Stephen King’s 1974 novel, Carrie, has been a pop culture fan-favourite story. It is no wonder writer-director Mike Flanagan could not resist telling the story in his Prime Video series format, the first of its kind since the film adaptations in 1976, the dreaded 1999 direct/indirect sequel, and 2013. Flanagan’s approach to adapt this into a series allowed viewers the chance to connect not only more with the titular character, but explore the whole town on a deeper level as well. Strangely, it was like how Riverdale became much more than solely an Archie Andrews-focused story—less weird arcs and more modernized drama though.
CGMagazine had the awesome opportunity to sit down and chat with Flanagan and some of its key cast members who worked on Carrie: Summer H. Howell, Alison Thornton, Samantha Sloyan, and Matthew Lillard. We asked them all about what would help Carietta “Carrie” White and Christine “Chris” Hargensen mend their traumas, what it means to premiere this series at TIFF 2026, and what special message they would impart to the next generation of high schoolers to be a little less mean to one another.
So, I brought some homework for you all.
Samantha Sloyan: Oh, no, I’m scared.
Alright, a question I wanted to start off with for all of you to think about throughout this interview is: what would you personally recommend to both Carrie White post-sheltered and coming out into the world and catching up, and what you would recommend for Chris Hargensen for coping with her issues at home (ie. books, TV series, films, anime, video games, board games, etc.)?
Mike Flanagan: Wow, what a hell of a question. Oh my god. Alright, I’ll chew on that.
Both Summer H. Howell and Alison Thornton: Wooooah!
(Matthew Lillard writhes in his seat)
Samantha Sloyan: (Looks to Matthew Lillard) Wait, did you get the end of that? The need to catch up, as she’s been in a sheltered world.
Matthew Lillard: Yeah…well, I’m going to take my—I’m gonna jump in.
Samantha Sloyan: Okay, go for it.
Matthew Lillard: First and foremost, you should play Dungeons & Dragons, Carrie. You like storytelling. First of all, you gather with other people in fellowship and you’d tell a story as old as time, and then you would find friends. So Carrie, play Dungeons & Dragons.
Samantha Sloyan: Yeah, I mean that might be all she needs to do. The way that you sold that, I was like, ‘I need to go right now.’ I need all of these things.
Matthew Lillard: What else? What else does she need?
Samantha Sloyan: It’s hard because I’m much older than Carrie, so the things that seated me in my youth would be classics. I don’t know, I’m panicked.
Matthew Lillard: Oh no, I’m gonna go with J.R.R. Tolkien, so you can do the telling of a great tale about friendship—Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins, and Gandalf the Grey. That sort of storytelling—to me—you would love to read, Carrie. You should read any of the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings. You want me to keep going?
Yeah, and on the flip side, what would you recommend for Chris Hargensen for coping with her issues at home (ie. books, TV series, films, anime, video games, board games, etc.)?
Samantha Sloyan: Speaking as someone who really believes in therapy. Chris should just get therapy. I think what we see in Chris is that nobody is really listening to her.
Matthew Lillard: I do not feel bad for her. She’s a jerk. Stop being a jerk. There’s a great line in Carrie where my character says, “Just try kindness. Can we please be kind?” And I do think that’s a beautiful through line to Mike [Flanagan’s] modernization tale of something that we all know, right?
Carrie, there’s a skeleton of Carrie that people understand. There’s the pig blood, the horrific bathroom scene, but I think what happens here is that Mike, over eight episodes, really gets to dig into these characters and tell this beautiful story. And at the core of it is this message of, ‘Can we just be kind?’ So I would tell Chris to just try kindness.
Samantha Sloyan: Yeah, I think Principal Grayle does try to tell her.
Matthew Lillard: I think he begs her. He begs her desperately to make a different choice.
Yeah, that’s awesome. And for the others, definitely think about it, and we’ll get back to it. My first question for you, Summer and Alison, would be what was your favourite moment or memory on set for each of you?
Summer H. Howell: I can’t…there were so many. I did some dancing in the street, which was fun. Anything with Sam[antha Sloyan] or the other girls, I was happy to be filming with you guys—just good energy all around meeting you guys. I met you on my, and there was a cake on the table and balloons in the room. But I just saw your face and went right to you for some reason.
Alison Thornton: Yeah, there are so many moments. I loved our rehearsal time, and I also loved a lot of filming for prom because we’re all together. There are very few moments in the show where the entire cast is there, and we would just get to hang out. Some of the iconic Carrie moments, like seeing Summer in the full—I don’t want to spoil anything—but the full Carrie get-up and the blood dump and doing things like that just felt really, really cool.
And congratulations, Mike, on premiering Carrie here at TIFF, and coming back after bringing The Life of Chuck. How does it feel to bring this show here now? And your reactions too, Samantha and Matthew?
Mike Flanagan: Oh, it’s a joy! My career, in a lot of ways, started at TIFF with the Oculus midnight screening. I walked into that theater without a career, and I came out of that theater with one. So over the years, as I’ve come back to TIFF, it’s always been a wonderful thing. The Life of Chuck screening remains the high point of screenings for my whole career. It was the most amazing screening I’ve ever been to. It changed my life. It was incredible. I only wish I could screen two more episodes, but it’s a joy to be here.
Samantha Sloyan: A lot of my stuff is shot in Canada and I’ve grown to love it so much. (Turns to Matthew) But you speak to TIFF because I wasn’t able [to come last time].
Matthew Lillard: One of the great experiences of my entire life was being in the audience for the Toronto International Film Festival. I will never forget the silence at the break of Act One and you could hear a pin drop in that theater. It was one of the most profound theatrical experiences I’ve ever had in my life. I think the idea that a television show like this gets the opportunity to be seen in an audience where the collective experience is going to be to be thrilling to be a part of because I think that you don’t often get television at that scale.
So I think it’s gonna be a really, really cool night.
Samantha Sloyan: I’m looking forward to it.
Matthew Lillard: You should be because they’re gonna lose their minds when they see you and you’re gonna hear firsthand audience response to your performance—and it’s gonna be so awesome.
Samantha Sloyan: It’ll just be Matthew being like, “Look at her!”
Matthew Lillard: Yeah, stand up people, stand up!
Cool. And yeah, as fellow Canadians, Summer and Alison, how does it feel to be premiering Carrie at TIFF?
Summer H. Howell: Time is a weird thing. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this for so long, and it’s finally here, and I’m like, ‘What?’ But no, I’m excited. I’ve never been to TIFF before, so I’m excited to be here for Carrie and to have my friend, my Canadian friend with me (Summer lightly nudges Alison)!
Alison Thornton: Yeah, I’m in the same boat. It’s my first TIFF. It’s so special that it’s in Canada. I am lucky enough to have some friends and family coming as well to see it—with an audience and with the people that we made it with. Seeing it with Summer is going to be so special, and time is weird.
Yeah, and speaking about time, we were all teenagers once. What advice would you give to the teenagers of today, especially coming out of the experience of Carrie?
Summer H. Howell: Build a trust with yourself, whatever that means for you. Find hobbies and interests that keep you off your phone and make you spend time alone. I like to do tarot, and I like to write in my journal, and I’m constantly thinking and trying to evolve. I think if you try that, you’ll like it, and you’ll feel better—and you’ll be less on your phone.
Alison Thornton: I completely agree. Less time on the phone, connecting with the real world is way more important, fulfilling and healthier. Also, just hang in there. Every teenager, just hang in there. It gets so much better.
Summer H. Howell: The world is bright and beautiful once you are out of high school.
Alison Thornton: Yeah, and keep an open mind.
Matthew Lillard: If you’re asking me about a message for modern-day teenagers, I have thoughts. (Looks to Samantha Sloyan sitting beside him) Do you have thoughts?
Samantha Sloyan: Unfortunately, I feel like I come from a different generation, and what they have to deal with, I did not have to deal with. I could tell them what helped me, but I don’t know how they’re contending with things I never had to dream of. The social media, that kind of involvement, it’s a level I can’t see. I would like to tell them that that wasn’t the way it always was, and it’s not the way it always has to be—and life really was full without it.
Matthew Lillard: Yeah, I will say this. I think that modern teenagers right now need to hear that they’re powerful. They need to get out from underneath the shadow of social media, to your point [Samantha], and really start to take power and control of what they see for their own future. The reality is that look, I have 3 children. Two of them are no longer teenagers; they’re grown-ass women.
The reality is that they live in the shadow of gun violence constantly. They live in the shadow of a planet that’s collapsing around them. They see the future and it’s bleak and it’s dark. And so my message to teenagers right now is you are the future. Start owning your own power, start voting, start working together, and start gathering the strength of masses to change the world because it’s going to be on you. We’ll be long gone and they’ll be the ones saving this planet.
Yeah, that’s pretty profound.
Matthew Lillard: They need a pep talk because this idea of ‘we can’t’ is not going to work. (Matthew starts checking his pockets) Where’s my social media? I’m gonna post, damn it. Where’s my social media? Where’s my—bring me my internet. It’s like my parents who used to look for a cigarette. I’m looking for an Instagram. Where’s my Instagram?
(Room dies of laughter)
Mike Flanagan: Yeah, I think the modern teenage experience is something I’ve struggled so hard to understand because I was in high school in the mid-nineties, and even since then, the world has changed so much. These kids today have to have a fortitude that I didn’t have to have. I admire them so much; they’re stronger than I ever had to be at that age.
I wanna thank them for that because I think it bodes well for the future of human beings that this generation is going to take that strength and hopefully carry it into adulthood. The message of the show—the thing we tried very hard to try to bake into it was how critically important it is to keep kindness and empathy at the foreground of our interactions with each other—especially as the world becomes more digitized and as our interactions become less in-person. I think that breeds cruelty.
I’m not exaggerating when I say this; it has reshaped the face of our planet in the last several decades in a way that I think is really horrifying. I don’t want to put this pressure on my own kids of just being, “Can you please fix this,” because we can’t, clearly. They seem to be smarter than we were, and I really hope they’re gonna at least turn the tide. There’s only so much knowledge we could give them, but it’s for them to explore, right?
My 15-year-old is way more aware of his place in the world, of his responsibilities to the world, of the challenges that the world is facing and staring down. What we’ve done to the environment, what we’ve done to our governments, and what we’ve done to each other—he was more aware of that at 13 without me having to talk about it. I tried to shield him from all that. They figured it out, but I’m encouraged by that.
That’s fair. And now, we’ve come full circle to the big question again. What would you each personally recommend to both Carrie White post-sheltered and coming out into the world (ie. books, TV series, films, anime, video games, board games, etc.)?
Summer H. Howell: Right!
Alison Thornton: (Looks to Summer H. Howell) Do you want to do what you would recommend to Chris and I’ll do like what I would recommend to Carrie, or the other way?
Summer H. Howell: Oh, interesting. Yeah, but I would want them both to see both. I’m thinking of the anime, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. I think that it’s so good. She’s a powerful mage, and should be relatable to Carrie having powers. For Chris though, specifically, I’d say Hunter x Hunter because it’s a friendship story. Maybe she could learn a thing or two.
Alison Thornton: Yeah, I feel for Chris, Everything Everywhere All at Once, just because it’s so kindness-forward. That movie makes me cry. I mean, maybe they should all read Carrie. Imagine she reads that book. Weirdly, I think Carrie would love [Clair Obscur:] Expedition 33 because it’s kind of magical and adventurous too.
Summer H. Howell: If they want a calm game, Stardew Valley. I say that because I play a lot of it. Yeah, it’s a good time.
Alison Thornton: I think Chris could use some Goat Simulator too, get some anger out. Fight with other goats, and then don’t fight with people in life. I think she could really benefit from that. (Everyone bursts out laughing) Or like The Sims. Chris could be on that, all day, do all the dark stuff on The Sims.
Summer H. Howell: That’s a good one.
That’s a really good one!
Mike Flanagan: Okay, it’s tricky. One of the things I learned on the show is not to be too fast with my recommendations for young women because I don’t know what I’m talking about. But when it comes to movies and books for Carrie White and Chris Hargensen, one of the ones I think is not looked at enough, but that really hammers home this message of kindness, is this little movie called Searching for Bobby Fischer. Most people have not seen it and this beautiful movie that seems to be about competitive chess and is about so much more than that.
The one that has a message, and I think Carrie White, as we’ve designed her, would love that movie. As for Chris Hargensen, she would turn it off.
Hahaha! No, that’s fair. Awesome, well thank you again so much for your time—
Matthew Lillard: No, wait, don’t you move. We have three more things to add to Carrie.
Samantha Sloyan: Well, I was just thinking about as a young girl, where did I start to feel like I belonged a little bit more, and I think it would have to be–in terms of groups of people, which are little scary to her—I tried things like sports. I had Girl Scouts. I did theater camp, like ‘Ooooh!’
Matthew Lillard: Did I say Dungeons & Dragons yet?
Samantha Sloyan: No, not yet.
Nope, don’t think so.
(Everyone laughs)
Samantha Sloyan: Going to museums. If you want to know what you missed, go and see all the art museums.
(Matthew Lillard jokingly waves off that answer)
Matthew Lillard: No, we’re trying to integrate her into high school.
Samantha Sloyan: Are we? I thought it was…I don’t know.
Matthew Lillard: We’re trying to catch her up.
Samantha Sloyan: Oh, integrate her into high school.
Matthew Lillard: Yeah. She doesn’t need to look back at Incan times and be like, ‘What did I miss? Oh, this is broken pottery from 27 BC.”
(The whole room is dying of laughter)
Well, thank you so much for all of your time, and it was a pleasure to meet you all!
