She’s just 17, but Chloe Grace-Moretz has already made a mark in Hollywood with films like Kick-Ass (as superheroine Hit-Girl), Hugo and Carrie. In If I Stay — currently playing in cinemas — Chloe plays Mia Hall, a young girl who meets with a serious accident and must now decide whether she wants to live or join her family in death. A chat with the spunky actress who is now being hailed as the next Jennifer Lawrence.

What were your thoughts when you were first approached about If I Stay?

I loved it. I love the story, I love the character… her strength and ambition. I love that she is more than somebody’s girlfriend. Mia is someone who actually has a life in front of her… someone who knew what she wanted from a young age and I was really able to connect with her on that level emotionally. I think R.J. [Cutler] is an amazing director. I think Gayle [Forman, on whose book the film is based] is a really fantastic writer and I’m happy she adapted the screenplay. It was just a perfect project. Also, I love making movies for teenagers… a movie that my friends and their moms can go see.

When you read the book, what was your reaction? Tears. I think it was the raw emotions… and then when I found out that Gayle actually was inspired by one of her friends when she wrote it, it became so real for me and made it much more than just a book. It really kind of screamed at me and reached out to me and touched my heart.

What is Mia like and what is her journey in this film?

When we meet Mia, she’s a young girl on the cusp of adulthood, but still innocent. She’s a girl who knows what she wants, she’s going to go get it, and she has nothing to get in her way. She’s not planning on getting into a relationship, but she meets a guy and she falls for him… and that kind of derails her thought-process for a second. She thinks she will, maybe, go to the not-so-great college instead of her dream school so that she can stay with him. Along the way, she realises that she can’t forget her other love, her dream: the cello. This creates the first of many major life conflicts. By the end of the movie, through all of the trials and tribulations, after accepting the hand that life deals her, Mia loses that innocence and transforms into a young woman.

What kind of preparation did you do to take on the character’s near-death experience? Is it true you watched a documentary on the subject? Yeah, it was a documentary about three people that was really interesting. It really hit me because I realised that this movie isn’t a literal take on any kind of belief system. It doesn’t have any opinion like that. It’s based on a story — a girl who finds herself in this middle ground between life and death — you can call it purgatory or you can call it a coma or you can call it maybe a figment of someone’s imagination. She could be dreaming this whole thing... you know what I mean? No one knows.

But that’s the reason it’s a special story... it’s left to interpretation. But I think her decision at the end has to do with the moment she feels a real human being and it clicks with her heart. She has to find the truth and reality, and it takes a lot to do that.

What was it like working with Jamie Blackley to develop the bond Mia and his character Adam share in the film?

Jamie’s such a cool guy, a great person. We just became good friends and the rest was easy. We hung out a lot. We would all go on little trips... like we went to the mountain one day to find these bears. We went ice-skating and to a concert. We would just do fun stuff. Once we had a strong friendship, we were able to be fake love interests because of the level of comfort and caring that friends have. It’s funny, if anything.

What qualities do you think Jamie brings to the role of Adam?

He brings a real soulfulness to Adam. He also brings a really charming quality, so that no matter how mean Adam gets, you still love him. You still understand that, yeah, that may have been a mean thing to say or an immature thing to do, but he’s a good guy. I think Jamie really brings gravitas to the role.

Can you talk about Mireille Enos and Joshua Leonard, the actors that play Mia’s mom and dad, and developing that bond with them?

Mireille’s an amazing person. She’s like a mom. She’s the nicest, most maternal person I’ve ever met. And then, Josh is the sweetest guy, too. He’s a really kind person. And then Jakob Davies plays my little brother, and he was the sweetest little boy. So it wasn’t hard. We all just hung out and created a really good bond, and when you’re in good company with good people, it’s not hard. It’s easy. No acting required! (Laughs)

What was it like to play the cello for the film, and how did you prepare for those scenes and get into the mindset of someone so passionate about it?

Well, the connection of a classical musician, especially a cellist, seems so much deeper than anything else. The cello is a very intimate instrument, especially for a woman. You’re fully embracing this instrument with your whole body. I had to really get comfortable with that idea, comfortable with what the cello is. It’s a human, you know what I mean? It’s an extension of her body. And it breathes with you... it moves with you... it dances with you. It’s amazing.

So, three to five months before we started filming, I had this famous phantom cello that would follow me around from hotel to hotel, lobby to lobby. It would always be from If I Stay Productions. Even when I was in the middle of nowhere in Germany, they somehow found a way to get a cello to my hotel. I don’t even know how they did it.

I would do these Skype lessons and that helped a lot, but cello’s one of those instruments that, unless you study it for 15 years, you’re not going to even be close to decent at playing one. I had a great (body) double called Hagen Day. She made me look amazing and I owe all that to her. And my other coach, Alisha, really helped me. Those girls are like my be-all-end-alls in the music world.

What was the experience for you working with director R.J. Cutler? R.J.’s a really smart guy and a great guy. He’s a documentarian and always really good at sound design and music management within movies, which is really important with this movie. The music plays like a third character, in a way. It really is the third lead of the movie. Also, our ideas about Mia were exactly the same. We knew precisely what we wanted with her and from her and we also knew what we wanted from the book to be in the script. So we were just on the same page from day one.

When you finally saw the movie completed, what were your thoughts?

I loved it! I thought it was just a really good movie. I saw it with my brothers, my mom, my best friends and my agents and publicist. I saw it with everyone and really loved it. It was fun. The movie is so heartfelt. It was honest to the book, and I love that. When I watched it, the end surprised me a little bit. I sat there in the theatre and was like: ‘Oh my god’.

When audiences go to see If I Stay, what do you hope sticks with them about this story?

I hope they just feel it, honestly. I hope that they feel that Mia is a real person and that Teddy (Mia’s brother) is a real person, that the mom and the dad are real people. It’s such a sad story, but hopeful too. It definitely leaves you feeling a little bit up. And I hope people just walk away feeling they have actually learned something and hopefully felt something real.

Is Chloe Grace-Moretz the right choice for Mia? Tell t2@abp.in