Exclusive | Summer H Howell, Samantha Sloyan on Mike Flanagan’s Carrie and its Mother-daughter bond

Stephen King’s Carrie has remained one of horror’s most recognisable stories, exploring bullying, adolescence and the consequences of cruelty. The story returns in a new adaptation from Mike Flanagan, who brings a fresh take to the familiar tale of Carrie White. In an exclusive conversation with WION, Carrie stars Summer H Howell and Samantha Sloyan opened up about playing Carrie and Margaret in Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King’s horror classic. The actresses also discussed exploring the complicated mother-daughter relationship, and much more.

Why Samantha Sloyan wanted to play Margaret?

Asked what made her want to play Margaret, Samantha Sloyan said that Mike wrote the character as a loving mother, which gave her a lot of input into the relationship between the two. She said she doesn't have children, but as a daughter herself she was interested in how complicated a mother-daughter relationship can be, even when the two love each other very much, because they are still two entirely different people.

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What did Summer H Howell discover about Carrie?

Asked what she discovered about Carrie that she hadn't expected, Summer H Howell said that Carrie is really intelligent and adapts quickly, even though she may seem a little naive to people in high school or to those just meeting her. She said Carrie comes from a place of wanting to learn and is super curious and open, which Howell knew going in. What she discovered was the strength in Carrie's mind and how Carrie learns through the series when to use it while battling with whether she is right or wrong or about her powers.

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Playing characters the audience already knows

On stepping into characters who already have an established identity in the audience's mind, Sloyan said Mike freed her from that, because he wrote Margaret so differently at the foundation. That let her build her own character. At the same time, she said it was important to her to keep the threat and the danger that Margaret has had in other productions, even though this version comes from a place of love instead of a crueller one.

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For Howell, the hardest part was not listening to outside opinions and staying focused on what she was building for her Carrie. She said there are a lot of opinions because the story has been done so well before and because Sissy is incredible, which people know. Howell said she was not intending to be like her or best her in any way.

She went into the project without any influence, having not read the book or watched the movie beforehand, and was excited to make the new version that Mike was writing. In the beginning, she said, Carrie is really curious, open and happy.

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Carrie is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.