Horror master Mike Flanagan has brought Stephen King’s Carrie to Prime Video with a new cast and a modern story. After her father’s death, teenager Carrie White is forced out of seclusion and into a public high school, where she faces relentless bullying from her new peers. Eventually, Carrie uses her newfound telekinetic powers to exact vengeance, culminating in a bloody, brutal prom night.
Carrie stars Summer H. Howell, Samantha Sloyan, Siena Agudong, Alison Thornton, Joel Oulette, Josie Totah, Arthur Conti, Amber Midthunder, Matthew Lillard, and Kate Siegel. In an exclusive interview with Digital Trends, Flanagan and several cast members discussed reimagining King’s horror classic for the digital age.
Carrie (🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟) unleashes a terrifying teenage tragedy that’s both bold and brilliant. Horror master Mike Flanagan stays true to Stephen King’s novel while expanding its characters and themes. By exploring adolescence, bullying, and violence in the digital age, Carrie… pic.twitter.com/ELKhIvVrQU
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Digital Trends: Now, to get started, given the number of adaptations Carrie has had over the years and the high standard that was set by the first Carrie film from the ’70s, did you feel any pressure trying to live up to the story while trying to do something different for Amazon?
Flanagan: Oh my God, yes. Nothing but pressure, and immediate, immediate pressure, because I think I had the same reaction everybody had, which was, “Why do Carrie again?” It’s been done iconically. It’s been done perfectly. And the only answer I came up with was, “Don’t do Carrie again. Do something different.” And that was what made Stephen King excited about it, too.
But yes, the pressure was enormous, because there’s no point in trying to retread something that’s been done that beautifully before. So, fortunately, I think we found our own way in, not only to the characters, which are all very different than they were in the book and in the other adaptations, but in telling a story that feels very relevant to today, things that Stephen King and Brian De Palma couldn’t have really imagined half a century ago.
Digital Trends: Right. You really helped the series stand out, but I actually read King’s original book right here, and it’s actually framed very much the same way. It’s based in a non-chronological order. It’s all based on eyewitness accounts of what happens to everyone, and I got to say, well done.
Flanagan: Thank you. Thank you so much. I love that structure of the book. I love how nonlinear, how immersive it is because of that, how it’s kind of prismic. It’s through all these different perspectives that you have to piece together what actually happened. So that was, that was a really great opportunity. It reminded me of a true crime doc.
Digital Trends: Yeah, I was thinking the same thing there. And now this isn’t the first Stephen King adaptation you’ve done. You have done Gerald’s Game, Doctor Sleep, and The Life of Chuck—huge fan of all of them— and King actually praised your work on more than one occasion. How does it feel to get his seal of approval with Carrie?
Flanagan: It’s incredible. He’s been my hero since I was a kid. I’m only in this business because of him in a lot of ways. Everything I know about the genre and characters and storytelling, I learned as a rabid, constant reader and huge Stephen King fanatic. So, the fact that he’s been happy with the work that I’ve done…that he trusts me to play with his toys, it’s one of the great honors of my professional life.
Digital Trends: Amazing. Now from what I’ve seen with Carrie, you really set the ground up for another season on Amazon. Could you tell us more about what you have planned?
Flanagan: Well, we don’t have any plans. My priority was just to make sure that we made this one season as perfectly as I possibly could. We do leave things in a place where there could potentially be more story to tell. But I’ve worked on TV long enough to know not to get my hopes up for things like that. Those are very much outside of our control. It would be really awesome if there’s more story to tell, but our priority was just making sure we stuck the landing on this one.
Howell: Carrie is your first project as a lead actor, and in it, you play one of the most iconic characters in horror history. How did you feel taking on the role of Carrie White?
Well, it’s not my first lead role. My first TV show, so I’ve done many lead roles, and I feel like they have prepared me for this, especially since most of them were in horror. So yeah, I felt excitement. It was a next step for me, almost natural, in a way. I knew it was gonna be a lot and a lot of responsibility. But I had the best time, and I met the best people. Can’t complain.
Digital Trends: Fantastic. Apologies for my error there. Now, Summer, did you look to any other actresses who played Carrie while preparing for the role?
Howell: I didn’t, no, I actually, I hadn’t read the book. I hadn’t seen the original film or any adaptations. I hadn’t even really heard of Carrie, which surprises me…I decided I wanted to create my own version from the start, and then Mike agreed with me when I asked him in our first call if he wanted me to do my homework, but I think that’s why he hired me because I was doing something so different.
Digital Trends: Right, and your performance was so unique, and it just like blew me away.
Digital Trends: And now, Samantha, concerning your character, Margaret White, one can easily spot the similarities between her and Bev Keane, your character from Mike’s previous series, Midnight Mass—huge fan, by the way—given they’re both religious fanatics. So how did you go about making your version of Margaret different from who you played before?
Sloyan: Well, I think that Margaret…is such a loner in a lot of ways. And in this, I feel like Margaret is truly…she has her family, she has her daughter, and she has her husband, and so, those are her focuses…where Beverly is much more, for the glory of herself. I feel Margaret is doing everything that she’s doing for the love of her daughter.
Digital Trends: Absolutely. And, you know, I actually felt a lot more sympathy than I would have imagined toward Margaret in this series, as opposed to Bev. I mean, those are both compliments on your performances on both.
Digital Trends: What was it like working together playing mean girls Chris and Tina in Carrie?
Totah: It was really awesome. I mean, Alison is the nicest, most normal, loving girl. And so I think for me, it was very lovely being around her because it was the opposite experience. And I think maybe I was fun and scary for you also sometimes. (laughs)
Thornton: Josie is, you’re so fun to work with, and you are such an amazing improviser. I think that Josie brought such a light to the show that was so necessary and it was just so easy to bounce back and forth. And we got really lucky with the whole cast. Everyone is genuinely kind and lovely and even though we have some dark stuff, it’s like we were able to come out of it and giggle.
Totah: Totally. Yeah. We giggled a lot.
Digital Trends: You got me giggling right now. Now the series spends a lot of time exploring Chris’s troubled upbringing, her more personal issues that drove her to bully Carrie in the series. Alison, how did you approach bringing such a character to life?
Thornton: Chris was a really fun challenge for me, and the writing is so beautiful in that everything that she’s doing is really coming from a place of pain. And while her actions are not justified, I was really able to see why she was making the choices that she was making, and her lack of role models and her lack of support, and the relationship with Sue and the contrast between that and the relationship with Billy, and I just felt like Chris was a lost kid, and I wanted to make sure that she didn’t just feel evil for the sake of evil. At the end of the day, she’s a human, and she’s making a lot of mistakes.
Digital Trends: Absolutely, and that really came across. Well done.
Digital Trends: And now, Josie, by the end of the series, Carrie left Tina with a lot of deep scars, both physically and emotionally, and considering the surprising interaction that they had in the penultimate episode, and the fact that Tina knew what drove Carrie over the edge and had tried to stop it. Do you think she actually harbors any ill will towards Carrie after what happened at prom?
Totah: No, I think the opposite. I think she felt really bad, and she was starting to have empathy for the first time in her life. I think it just came a little too late. The phone didn’t go through. The call.
Digital Trends: Right…I’m really amazed [at] what they did with Tina’s character in the show. Both of you [did] just such an amazing job.
Totah: Oh, thank you. That’s nice.
Digital Trends: So what was it like working on such a big Stephen King show together?
Oulette: I thought it was kind of crazy. Just like being in a live-action adaptation of Carrie. Stepping onto that was pretty…
Conti: Yeah. I’m a big Stephen King fan myself. I’m a big The Shining guy. I’m a big Misery guy. And being a part of the Stephen King universe is a great honor.
Digital Trends: And now, Joel, your character, Tommy, he has a love triangle with Carrie and Sue in the series. So what was it like performing alongside Summer Howell and Siena Agudong?
Oulette: Well, I think it was really, really fun to work alongside Siena. I think she really brings out my inner child in a way. I feel like we kind of have that connection to just encapsulate what a high school relationship really looks like. And then involving Carrie in the mix, I feel like Tommy is like a beacon of hope for Carrie.
Digital Trends: Right. And now, Arthur, your character, Billy Nolan, he’s like the uber bad boy of the series. How did you get into the mindset of playing this charming but extremely callous character?
Conti: Yeah, I think the most disturbing thing about Billy is that he doesn’t know really that what he’s doing is wrong. He just kind of thinks everything is funny and there’s kind of a wall between him and the rest of the characters.
He just doesn’t compute that what he’s doing is cruel and evil and wrong. And I think taking a character like that that’s so evil as written and performing it, not in an evil way, because no one is straightforwardly evil in this show. I think that was really interesting to get into.
Digital Trends: Right. And, I know this is supposed to be a horror-fantasy series, but it really deals with a lot of realistic issues with modern high school life. Do you feel that the series brought out a lot of what’s going on in high schools, at least based on your experiences?
Conti: Yeah, I think so. I think that the show deals with the issue of social media and what young people are contending with today in a very capable, non-patronizing, and interesting way. I think a lot of people will relate to it.
Oulette: It’s probably even more brutal in 2026…I couldn’t imagine now even with AI and stuff too.
Conti: Yeah. It’s just all getting worse.
Digital Trends: Matthew, now this is actually your second Mike Flanagan project that you’ve worked on so far. The first was The Life of Chuck—a huge fan by the way—And in that film, you really gave an incredible performance in just one scene. Though in Carrie, you have a much, much bigger role as Principal Grayle. Do you feel that with this role, you had a lot more room to flex your acting muscles?
Lillard: Oh, that’s a really interesting question. I feel like he’s a tiny part. I feel like it’s such a small part.
Midthunder: Some might say he’s the centerpiece. (laughs)
Lillard: What’s really interesting is that…Mike really wanted my character Grayle to be the center of this chaotic storm and sort of be this grounded force for good. And his job is really trying to get the entire community through this upheaval.
So, normally, I’m an actor that likes to chew scenery and lots of energy. But this, I had to like really tone stuff down and work in a very small sort of spectrum of energy. But for me, that was a real challenge, and I’m really excited about how it ended up coming out.
Digital Trends: Yeah, I mean, your character just handles so much chaos with the school…overall, do you think… Grayle handled the whole situation with Carrie and Chris well?
Lillard: I think he’s doing the best he possibly can. Yeah, yeah. In this world…there’s so much selfishness throughout the entire show. All of these parents and Chris and everyone has an agenda. And I feel like he’s doing the best he can to…usher us all through.
Digital Trends: Right. And now, Amber, your character, Rita, she has a much, much bigger story than she had in King’s novel. We follow her through a personal life outside of school. So how do you feel about bringing that character to life in this world that’s actually separate from Carrie’s?
Midthunder: Yeah, I mean, it’s a huge privilege. And that’s what I love about Mike’s [shows]. I think has this really incredible ability to… obviously he often has these huge ensemble casts. And he always makes sure that every character [is] so well-rounded and has such a full story to tell, no matter how big or small that character is or how much they’re in the show. And that was something that I really liked about this character.
But it’s funny, I was thinking as you were talking…how I think we’re still so tied to the perspective. You see things through the perspective of the characters. You say, “Oh, there’s so much selfishness,” and I think that’s true. And also, I think it’s a story of people who are all just sort of desperately trying their best and are failing.
Lillard: Oh, I don’t know. I think you are. I think your character–
Midthunder: But I do think my character’s wildly empathetic…you know what I mean?
Lillard: Yeah, I do, I mean…there’s three different aspects for people out there. There’s the kids in this high school, they’re the parents that are associated with those kids, and then there’s the teachers, and we represent the faculty.
And I do feel like the faculty, one of the great things I think here is that there’s a deep connection to education that educators from Mike, and I do think he’s portraying these educators as these, for the most part, brave souls out there working on behalf of kids, which we should all take note.
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https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
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