EXCLUSIVE: Mike Flanagan's new series Carrie is now available to watch on Prime Video, and star Summer H. Howell has revealed what her character's powers are like in this new adaptation of the iconic horror story.
Carrie has been adapted multiple times since Stephen King published his novel in 1974. Now Flanagan is bringing his own interpretation to the small screen, with the Prime Video show taking place in the present and dealing with modern issues like cyberbullying. The core story is still prevalent, of course, with protagonist Carrie White discovering she has telekinetic powers.
In an interview with Liam Crowley for ScreenRant's Carrie cover story, Howell, who plays the titular character, explained how she approached developing Carrie's powers in collaboration with Flanagan.
The actress and the creator/showrunner talked a lot about how she would let viewers see into her "journey of being afraid of her powers and then coming into them and training them and beginning to love them, but hate them at the same time."
There's a guilt that develops as well because Carrie undergoes a transformation in which she can't stand what is happening but chooses to embrace the unpredictable nature of it all.
Howell also revealed that when filming Carrie season 1, the production used practical effects as much as they could, so there were scenes where she had to get the timing down just right.
She would act out a particular maneuver where Carrie is supposed to use her powers, and then the crew would be off-camera "turning sprinklers off or exploding bottles on time," which Howell found to be "really cool."
Carrie has the power of telekinesis, which means she can manipulate things around her with her mind. Technically, she doesn't need to do anything physically to enact these powers.
However, there are certain hand motions and other physical actions that Howell brought to the role since a TV show is a visual medium. "I think my version of Carrie has a grace to her when she uses her hands because sometimes she doesn't need to," she added.
ScreenRant: "For a lot of fans, their first impression of Carrie is the telekinesis. So if you could talk to me about how you approached developing Carrie's power set alongside Mike."
Summer Howell: "When it comes to hand motions and stuff, I think my version of Carrie has a grace to her when she uses her hands, because sometimes she doesn't need to. She's got the powers through her mind. Mike and I talked about it quite a bit, and I had a great time creating her journey of being afraid of her powers and then coming into them and training them and beginning to love them, but hate them at the same time, and how she was using them, and the guilt that can come with that. But yeah, I had so much fun. We tried to do practical effects when we could, so there was a lot of timing of I do a certain thing and then they've got to do their thing, like turning sprinklers off or exploding bottles on time. Yeah, it was really cool."
Howell's co-stars in Carrie are Samantha Sloyan, Siena Agudong, Alison Thornton, Joel Oulette, Josie Totah, Arthur Conti, Amber Midthunder and Matthew Lillard. Aside from being the creator and showrunner, Flanagan is also an executive producer with King, Trevor Macy and Justin Wagman.
Carrie has been earning positive reviews and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of 86%.
To contrast, the very first film adaptation in 1976, which was directed by Brian De Palma and starred Sissy Spacek in the role Howell now occupies, has a 94%. There was also a sequel in 1999 and remakes in 2002 and 2013, but none of those films were well-received.
Flanagan is best known for creating shows like The Haunting of Hill House and The Fall of the House of Usher, and directing the movies Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald's Game, Doctor Sleep and The Life of Chuck. Now he's back in the world of television for another horror project, this time a new interpretation of Carrie.
All eight episodes of Carrie season 1 are available to stream on Prime Video.
In this new series adaptation of Stephen King's classic novel, Carrie White struggles through the daily torments of school life, her domineering mother, and a dormant set of telekinetic powers.
