Most actors taking on an iconic role would start by studying every version that came before. Summer H. Howell did the opposite. In a new interview with Who What Wear, the 22-year-old star of Prime Video’s Carrie reveals she deliberately avoided watching any previous adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, including Brian De Palma’s classic 1976 film, until after filming had wrapped.
“I was happy to play a different version and be able to bring my own thing to the scenes,” Howell said, explaining that she wanted her take on the telekinetic teenager to be entirely her own. It was a gamble, but one that paid off: both series creator Mike Flanagan and King himself have signed off on her interpretation of the character.
The decision is especially striking given Howell’s horror pedigree. Her first role came at age nine in Curse of Chucky, followed by parts in Harland Manor, All Fun and Games, and Night of the Reaper. She knows the genre inside and out, which may be exactly why she trusted herself to build Carrie from scratch rather than from Sissy Spacek’s shadow.
Howell also described the grueling shoot for Flanagan’s version of the infamous prom sequence, saying she spent about nine days covered in blood. Flanagan has called the sequence one of the hardest he has ever had to pull off. The series, the first television adaptation of King’s debut novel, reimagines the story in the age of social media.
She spent three weeks in rehearsal building the show’s central mother-daughter relationship with co-star Samantha Sloyan, who plays Margaret White, and discussed how Carrie’s wardrobe visibly evolves as the character learns to sew. Between 12-hour shoot days, she decompressed with self-care, sleep, and zoning out to Markiplier’s “Distractible” podcast.
Looking ahead, Howell says she wants to branch out into action-adventure or dramedy, revealing that she recently shot her first action movie, expected out sometime next year. “Anything that can make me feel, that’s my job, really, to make people feel,” she said of what draws her to a role.
All episodes of Carrie are now streaming on Prime Video. As TDN previously reported, Stephen King gave his blessing to Flanagan’s changes to the story.