Though "Kick-Ass" has been both a critical and box office success in its first weekend, there seems to be some reservations about the idea of 13-year-old Chloe Moretz playing an 11-year-old cold-hearted superhero prodigy that racks up a body count higher than any other character in the film.
Chloe is one in a long line of young actresses cast in psychologically demanding roles. Since her mom gave her the OK to play Hit-Girl, we're sure Chloe will turn out just fine, but some actresses are still marked by those early roles now that they're adults.
Check out our look back at those starlets after the jump!
Dakota Fanning
Dakota Fanning turned a lot of heads when she signed on for a role in 2007's "Hounddog"; one that required her to be raped on screen. Up until this point in time, Dakota had been best known for her roles in "I Am Sam" and "The Cat in the Hat," and the idea of the then 13-year-old Dakota Fanning filming such disturbing material was off-putting enough for North Carolina to change their procedures for allowing films to be made in the state (now all scripts have to be screened ahead of time).
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Linda Blair
You know Linda Blair even if you don't know her name. Playing the pea-soup-spitting, spider-walking, demon-possessed Reagan MacNeil in the 1973 horror classic "The Exorcist," the then 14-year-old Linda became defined not by her acting abilities, but by the monster she played. " Some of the more disturbing scenes in the film (masturbating with a crucifix, the possessed Reagan's potty mouth) defined the young actress, and after the success of "The Exorcist," she mostly landed roles as an abused child (from 13-year-old alcoholic to a rape victim) before phasing out of A-list Hollywood entirely.
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster was 13-years-old when she landed the role of Iris, a preteen prostitute in the 1976 film "Taxi Driver." The gig landed her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and is now referred to as her first significant film role. Before she was cast as Iris, Jodie was evaluated by a psychiatrist to see if she could handle the emotional and psychological weight of the character and the film. Beyond the fact Jodie played a prostitute and is seen performing sexual acts in the film, there was some concern over the fact she was present during the final, graphically violent shoot-out scene at the end of the movie. Turns out director Martin Scorsese carefully explained the scene to her ahead of time and all the technical details that would be going on to pull it off, and Jodie said she was fascinated by the behind-the-scenes elements instead of being traumatized by the violence.
Natalie Portman
In her breakout role in "Leon: The Professional," the then 13-year-old Natalie Portman played a 12-year-old orphan who is taken in by a professional assassin and taught his trade. Though it is not explicitly stated in the film (though it is emphasized more in the original French version), it is implied that Natalie's character, Mathilda, and the assassin, Leon, are engaged in some sort of sexual relations. The role is an incarnation of the "Lolita" character originally penned by Vladimir Nabokov.
Brooke Shields
Back in 1978, Brooke Shields was the center of a scandal featuring just that. The then 12-year-old Brooke not only appeared naked in the film "Pretty Baby" (and we mean naked) but she also plays the daughter of a prostitute, and essentially is a prostitute herself. The film takes place in the last few months before prostitution was outlawed in New Orleans, and follows the story of Brooke's character Violet and her mother (played by Susan Sarandon) after a photographer comes to their brothel and takes their photographs. Violet becomes fascinated with the man, and he ends up auctioning her virginity off to the highest bidder.
Do you think what Chloe Moretz had to perform as Hit-Girl pushed the limits too far? Should there be a line drawn deciding what young actresses should and should not be allowed to portray onscreen?
Tags Brooke Shields, Chloe Moretz, Dakota Fanning, Hounddog, Jodie Foster, Kick-Ass, Linda Blair, Natalie Portman
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