In Prime Video's Carrie, misfit high‑schooler Carrie White (Summer H. Howell) has spent her life hidden away inside the walls of her home with her fiercely protective mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan).
After her father’s sudden, untimely death thrusts her into the unforgiving ecosystem of public high school, Carrie is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community, the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence.
There have been several adaptations of Stephen King's Carrie over the years, but showrunner Mike Flanagan wasn't interested in simply telling the same story again. Instead, the filmmaker set out to build something new, though that came with no shortage of pressure.
In this exclusive interview, Flanagan discusses the pressure of adapting King's first novel, how his approach differed from his work on Clayface, the challenges of standing apart from Brian De Palma's beloved movie, and what made Howell the perfect choice to play this new version of Carrie.
He also addresses the possibility of finally bringing The Dark Tower to the screen, reiterating that, "I’m not the one standing in its way."
Check out our full interview with Flanagan in the player below.
I know you’ve adapted Stephen King’s work before, but Carrie is the book that started it all. Did that bring any added pressure, especially when you’re modernising and expanding the story and mythology?
Oh, absolutely. The pressure was immediate. It never let up. And I mean, that’s what happens if you’re stepping into the shadow of something so iconic, you know. I’m a little familiar with that nausea. This was no exception. But it was this really wonderful opportunity, though, to do something I’d never gotten to do with Stephen King. I’ve always tried to adapt him as faithfully as possible, and this was the first time I got to go and say I want to do more like what we did with Hill House, and I want to take it apart, and I want to use all those pieces. I want to build something new out of it. And he was excited about that because he had also felt like *Carrie*’s been adapted beautifully and then adapted again and again after. Why do it? And so I gave him my answer and kind of laid out what I thought would be a pretty intense change to kind of make it of today. And he really, really liked it, and I was so glad because if he didn’t, I never would have pursued it. Never.
I love the surprises in the show, and I’d love to know how your approach differs in adapting and reimagining a book like Carrie compared to something like Clayface, which is a comic book. Is it the same kind of process or very different, would you say?
This was different because Clayface had never been adapted before outside of the animated series and in a lot of the animated work, but had never made it into a feature film and certainly never as the central character. And so Clayface for me felt kind of wide open. It was we were the first to kind of get in and do that. Now that said, Clayface, you know, very much is not mine. It’s James Watkins’ movie. I wrote a script I loved and I turned it in and then that’s the last… I haven’t even seen it. I’m excited to see it and see what James did with it. But that’s James’ film, and I’m so excited to see what he made.
But adapting this completely different because, you know, it’s not just the book that you’re considering. I’ve got Brian De Palma’s kind of monolithic film looming over us on the one hand, but then we also have the Angela Bettis version, and we have the Chloë Grace Moretz version, and you also have the understanding of Carrie in pop culture from all the unofficial versions because the character is so influential. You see echoes of her all over. You see her in Stranger Things. She’s everywhere, you know. So all of that comes to bear and it becomes about, oh wow, we’re not breaking new ground with this character. It’s about how we’re going to approach the character that can let us stand apart. That’s a very difficult needle to thread.
At the heart of the story is Carrie. You’ve got a great cast, but Summer, what a star-making turn from her. What made her right for you to play this very specific version of Carrie, with where her story could go and how it plays out?
Well, you know, we looked at more than 1,400 actresses to find Summer. It’s still to this day the most intense casting experience of my career. And Summer Hell brings what we wanted for this very new version, which was this curiosity and openness and earnestness and kindness instead of the, you know, paralyzed terror that we’ve always seen from Carrie White. Summer brought all of that just naturally, but she managed to do it in a way that never felt naive. It always felt like she might not know all the information and the context that she needs, but she always had wonderful emotional intelligence and a genuine kindness. And that was something that Summer brought that was entirely and distinctly hers. And I think it’s a remarkable performance. I think you’re right. It’s a star-making performance, and I think really the show… Summer How and Samantha Sloyan, for me, just make the heart of this show beat. And it was such a privilege to watch the two of them work every day. It was amazing.
Mike, thank you so much for your time. I love this series. I cannot wait for people to watch it. And I think I speak for us all when I say please do The Dark Tower next because we need that.
I’m trying so hard. Yeah. Believe me, I’m not the one standing in its way. I promise. But yes, that’s my sincere, sincere hope. Yeah.
Carrie premieres worldwide on October 7 on Prime Video.