Top Five Young Actresses to Take on Very Adult Roles

May 4, 2012 — -- intro: Stars, they grow up so fast. Take 15-year-old Chloe Moretz. Her starring role in "Hick," available on video on demand next week, involves packing a pistol in her daisy dukes, hitchhiking across the country, flirting with much older men and buddying up with a cocaine fiend (Blake Lively).

It's not her first eyebrow-raising role. Moretz starred alongside Nicolas Cage in 2010's "Kick-Ass," playing the weapons of mass destruction wielding Hit-Girl who all but gets her face blown off as she tries to avenge her father's death. Up next for the teen star: headlining a remake of the 1976 bloodbath "Carrie." You know, typical kiddie fare.

Moretz is far from the first actress to take on parts far older than her years. Judging by those who've done it in the past, she's in for an illustrious career:

quicklist: 1title: Dakota Fanningtext: Jumping from the family-friendly "Charlotte's Web" to "Hounddog" was quite a leap for Dakota Fanning. Fanning's character gets raped in the dark, Southern-gothic film. The scene was so jarring to some that it elicited boos at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and launched a petition to have Fanning's mother jailed for letting the then 12-year-old actress be in the movie.

Fanning defended the film and her role, saying of the rape, "It's not really happening. It's a movie, and it's called acting." She's gone on to do a lot more of that, in box office smashes like the "Twilight" series and critically acclaimed fare like "Coraline." media: 16271506

quicklist: 2title: Natalie Portmantext: Long before she won a best actress Oscar, Portman played a gun-toting, cigarette-smoking, hitman-loving 12-year-old on a mission to become a murderer. Her role in "The Professional" got her noticed in Hollywood, and she went on to mix more romantic flicks ("Garden State") with darker fare ("V for Vendetta"). Going to the dark side (no pun intended; she starred in the "Star Wars" prequels too) paid off when she won an Oscar for 2010's "Black Swan." media: 16271464

quicklist: 3title: Jodie Fostertext: For Jodie Foster, playing a child prostitute in "Taxi Driver" had its pluses -- she won a BAFTA and got nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar, paving the way for an A-list acting career. But the results of her role in the 1976 film weren't all positive. Multiple stalkers said they became obsessed with Foster after seeing the movie. One, John Hinckley, Jr., claimed he tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in an attempt to impress her. media: 16271575

quicklist: 4title: Brooke Shieldstext: Out of the bunch, Brooke Shields may take the cake. At age 12, she got naked to play a prostitute in 1978's "Pretty Baby." Though the film was acclaimed by critics, the debate about whether it constituted child pornography led it to be banned in parts of the world. "It's only a role," Shields told People magazine at the time. "I'm not going to grow up and be a prostitute." Indeed, she didn't, though the model and actress raised eyebrows again in the '80s when she starred in a series of sexy Calvin Klein ads. media: 16271556