At just 18, Atlanta-born actress Chloe Grace Moretz has already had a prolific career that boasts 38 feature films and more than 100 television appearances. She's done comedy, drama, action and horror, and this year the dazzling starlet will tackle science fiction with the thriller The 5^th Wave, based on a YA novel about a five-wave alien attack. And so, we're looking back on what's made this young actress such a force of nature.

Her mom refused to let her see her first movie. 

It wasn't a question of quality, but spookiness! At age eight, Moretz made her film debut in the chilling 2005 reboot The Amityville Horror. But her mom decided the R-rated haunted-house flick was too scary for the budding actress to see. Nonetheless, the film had a big impact on the child star. Moretz enjoyed making it so much that she named her dog Fuller, after producer Bradley Fuller.

She's returned to horror again and again.

Moretz has appeared in eight horror movies to date, including low-budget thrillers like Hallowed Ground, Room 6 and Wicked Little Things, as well as glossy and gory remakes like The Eye, Let Me In, Carrie and Dark Shadows.

Before she blew up, a sassy Moretz schooled Joseph Gordon-Levitt on love.

In the charming 2009 indie rom-com (500) Days of Summer, the 12-year-old Moretz played wise-beyond-her-years little sister to a love-struck Gordon-Levitt. While laying down some tough love, she snatched focus and laughs from one of Hollywood's most affable leading men.

She and Miley Cyrus once shared a role.

In the 2009 animated Disney adventure Bolt, the pop star played the titular dog's beloved master, Penny. But Moretz, who is five years Cyrus's junior, lent her voice to the young Penny seen in the picture's opening sequence.

Did you know she once sang on-screen with Jennifer Lawrence?

Yup! In 2008, the pair costarred in the little-known drama Poker House. Written and directed by actress Lori Petty, the film contains a series of dark moments from the filmmaker's own adolescence. But it also boasts this blissful sing along between three spirited on-screen sisters: Moretz, Lawrence and Sophi Bairley. 

Moretz and Lawrence would later be rivals.

Both were considered for the part of Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the Hunger Games adaptation, which went on to be a global sensation. Of course, Lawrence won the role, but Moretz found success elsewhere and had fun creating a silly parody "audition" vid for a nonexistent tribute who cares more about hair care than warfare.

Her breakout came from playing a foul-mouthed crime fighter.

Though a supporting player in the R-rated superhero comedy Kick-Ass, Moretz ran off with the movie as its fiery, profane and ultraviolent Hit-Girl. Though the film itself disappointed at the box office, this pint-sized and pugnacious tween won wild praise, much buzz and a bigger role in its high-octane sequel Kick-Ass 2. 

She tricked Martin Scorsese to score her Hugo role.

Rumor had it the legendary director was seeking a British actress for the part of the precocious Isabelle in his fantastical Paris-set adventure. So, Moretz went into her audition with a plan and an accent ready. She told W magazine, "I wore a wig and made an audition tape using a British accent. He liked my tape and flew me to New York, and I kept up the act that I was a British girl who had moved to L.A." She got the role, even after confessing to her American origin.

She had a cameo in Muppets Most Wanted.

Amid of slew of other stars like Tony Bennett, Jemaine Clement, Lady Gaga, Zach Galifianakis, Salma Hayek, Celine Dion and Ray Liotta, Moretz popped in as a newspaper boy in a pivotal moment for the zany Muppets.

She's proud of her signature smile.

In 2011, Drew Barrymore interviewed the rising starlet about her life, loves and work. When asked about her thoughts on gap teeth, Moretz cheerfully responded, "Well, I already have a gap in my teeth—and I like it, actually, because it’s awkward and fun!" We don't know about awkward, but that bright beam is as fun as the actress herself.