Mike Flanagan and the Carrie Cast on Reimagining Stephen King, Teenage Cruelty, and On-Set Rules: Podcast

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High school already comes equipped with psychological warfare. Giving one of its casualties telekinetic powers just evens the odds. With Prime Video’s Carrie, Mike Flanagan stretches Stephen King’s debut novel across eight episodes, digging into the everyday cruelty that precedes the catastrophe. (Watch the series via Prime Video.) The filmmaker and cast spoke with Kyle Meredith about rebuilding an American horror institution for a generation whose tormentors can follow them home without leaving their bedrooms. There’s plenty of supernatural trouble, but the people remain the scariest special effect. Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Flanagan knows the reflexive response to another trip through this particular prom night. He has it himself. “If I don’t have a fantastic answer for why, I pass on the project,” he says. Finding that answer meant bringing teenagers into the writers’ room, an education that also opened conversations with his own children. “The world changes so much, but the fundamentals stay the same,” he explains, citing kindness, bullying, empathy, and violence. Summer H. Howell, meanwhile, saved her first viewing of Brian De Palma’s film until after shooting, finally catching it with Flanagan and castmates at a Vancouver theatre. Her Carrie benefits from the space to explore messy fundamentals: “Nobody’s just good or bad,” she says. Meanwhile, Samantha Sloyan locates an especially nasty knot in Margaret White’s maternal instincts: “It is the love that creates the harm in a way.”

Behind the scenes, the chaos came with discipline. Amber Midthunder recalls a month of rehearsals and Flanagan establishing an atmosphere of mutual respect, while Matthew Lillard runs through the rules. “Number one rule, you show up on time,” he says, followed by no phones on set and no script pages to hide behind during blocking. That preparation gave the ensemble room to complicate the school’s social food chain. Alison Thornton describes Chris as having been taught “that cruelty wins,” while Josie Totah turned an initially unloved Tina into a character Flanagan wanted to expand. “I’m going to make him love Tina,” she remembers deciding. Joel Oulette finds Tommy chasing an idealized future, and Arthur Conti wanted Billy’s charisma to leave viewers conflicted. Billy’s automotive swagger, however, required assistance. After failing two driving tests, Conti confesses, “Every time you see me driving in the show, it’s a guy with a wig.”

Listen to Mike Flanagan and the cast of Carrie talk about the series in the new episode above or by watching the video below. Keep up on all the latest episodes by following Kyle Meredith With… on your favorite podcast platform; plus, check out all the series on the Consequence Podcast Network.