Carrie

Top 10 Fun Facts

1. Of the 36 Stephen King novels that have been made into films, Carrie was the first.
2. Directors George Lucas and Brian De Palma had their auditions for Star Wars and Carrie together. There was a rumor floating around that they had actually cast Carrie Fisher as Carrie and Sissy Spacek as Princess Leia. But supposedly, Fisher wouldn't do nudity so they switched roles. Even without the nude scenes, Fisher still spawned a million fantasies when she donned that gold bikini.
3. When it came time for Sissy Spacek's screen test, she went all out: she didn't shower, put Vaseline in her hair to make it look greasy, and wore a dress her mother made for her when she was 13 with the hem cut off. That's a good look.
4. Carrie has many homages to the classic horror film Psycho - the high school is called Bates High after Norman Bates, and the music in Carrie repeats the four note violin theme from Psycho. Seems like an appropriate association.
5. Real-life mother-daughter duo Amy Irving and Priscilla Pointer portrayed Sue Snell and her mother in Carrie.
6. Stephen King liked Amy Irving so much that he put a ring on it - he gave her the ring you see her wearing in the movie as a gift.
7. Even though Sissy Spacek was totally fine with the blood dumped on her being real pig's blood, the filmmakers actually used Karo syrup and red food coloring. Unfortunately the blood kept drying under the hot lights, so every few takes they'd have to hose Sissy Spacek down. It might have been payback for all the people she telekinetically hoses down during that scene.
8. Remember that dizzying scene where Carrie and Tommy are dancing at the prom? They filmed that by having the camera circle around Sissy Spacek and William Katt, while they were on a platform that was spinning in the opposite direction. And then I vomited everywhere. It's a lot of spinning.
9. The student (Norma) at the prom being knocked unconscious by the gym fire hose, was a shot of the actress truly being knocked out by the pressure of the water. It was kept in the final cut for being realistic. Now there's an actress who truly suffers for your art.
10. Never let a good manicure go to waste. The final scene when Sue Snell (Amy Irving) puts the flowers on Carrie's grave, the hand is actually Sissy Spacek's. Refusing to use a stunt double, Sissy was in a box underneath the ground. Subsequently, Sissy put Carrie on top of the box office.

Cast

Crew