Brian De Palma’s 1976 film Carrie has long been a Halloween favorite. As a longtime fan of the book and film, I couldn’t help but ask Sissy Spacek, the award-winning actress at the center of the cult classic, about her ‘Carrie experience’ when we had the opportunity to chat earlier this year.
Spacek, who would later win an Oscar in 1980 for Best Leading Actress in Coal Miner’s Daughter, was nominated for her first Oscar for her portrayal of the title character Carrie White. She quickly learned that those Carrie nominations (Piper Laurie received a nomination for her portrayal of Carrie’s mother, Margaret White.) were unique. “At the time, I was told by the studio that there had never been an actor nominated, or…a horror film. And so, we were all really shocked and pleasantly surprised by that nomination.”
She went on to receive five more Academy Award nominations and one win after her Carrie nod. But even with an extensive body of remarkable work to draw from, fans still cling to Spacek’s riveting performance as the tormented teenager whose prom queen dreams turned into a nightmare.
Ironically, Spacek was a real-life prom queen with great prom night memories. “Being prom queen as a student growing up was really a wonderful thing for me. You know, had I known that Carrie would come along at that time, I would have been more in the moment.”
Spacek recognizes the powerful reliability of Carrie. “I think that the fact that Carrie is experiencing the ultimate [acceptance] being prom queen. I mean, so she is so high and so, you know, feeling the love. And then to have that humiliation right then—it’s quite a trigger…I think that your teenage years…everyone feels unworthy some days…I think that that was the thing about Carrie. People related.”
Don’t miss Sissy Spacek in the Netflix original series Bloodline.
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