Summer H. Howell Defends The Controversial Carrie Finale

There’s no right way to stage a telekinetic prom massacre, and the newest adaptation of Carrie certainly pushes the limits with unexpected additions to Stephen King’s iconic horror story. This time around, emerging scream queen Summer H. Howell wears the pig-blood-stained tiara, but surprisingly, her version of Carrie White has a very different prom experience than the Carries before her.

Howell has been haunting horror projects for more than a decade before landing the role of Stephen King’s iconic psychic prom queen, having first appeared in 2013’s Curse of Chucky. The 22-year-old from Manitoba, Canada, immediately felt she was “meant for the genre” after starring in another Chucky movie and the 2020 thriller Hunter Hunter. Despite a background in gore, Howell’s take on Carrie veers more human than monstrous, given the key change that this Carrie doesn’t technically kill off her high school bullies herself. Spoiler alert: This post discusses the final moments of Carrie.

In a major twist on the classic tale, Howell’s Carrie invites her psychic friend Emaline (a newly created character for the show) to take control of her and wreak havoc on Ewen High School. Although Carrie regains control and does shed some blood of her own by killing her primary enemy Chris Hargensen, this lack of autonomy in such a pivotal horror scene has drawn a lot of criticism from King fans.

Howell isn’t letting the discourse get to her, though — she knew the backlash was inevitable from the start. “Since I've been cast, there's been talk online, and I get why people have mixed feelings about it,” Howell tells Elite Daily. “People love this story. It's iconic; what Sissy [Spacek] did was amazing, and the book was very well-written, so people grow attachments to these things and changing is a hard thing for anyone. Accepting change can be hard, but at the end of the day, we are an adaptation. We were always going to do it differently.”

The 22-year-old actor sees Emaline’s prom possession as Carrie’s immediate trauma response to the pig-blood prank. “In that moment on stage, Carrie is seeing everyone pull out their phones and being everything she hoped people wouldn’t be. She’s so lost and doesn’t know what to think, so when a friend reaches out saying they can help her, she just gives in,” Howell says.

Beyond Emaline’s role, the series has also drawn criticism for another major change to its ending. The finale introduces a dangerous group of powerful psychics who are hunting Carrie down. Instead of dying after the prom massacre, like in King’s novel, Howell’s Carrie survives, but must flee this mysterious threat. The choice teases a new direction for the show’s future, but it’s also been dinged for leaning into a familiar, arguably incongruous superhero trope.

You don’t have to watch the series if it’s not your thing. There’s going to be a version of Carrie for everyone.

“Our story is a lot more complicated than people think,” Howell says. “If we have a future, I think questions will be answered more. And, I mean, you don’t have to watch the series if it’s not your thing. There’s going to be a version of Carrie for everyone, and I think this version is especially important for younger people nowadays. Growing up with social media and all of that jazz, it’s scary. And I think all of the different spins in our version are really fun.”

Creator Mike Flanagan has stated that he imagines Carrie continuing for three seasons. Although Prime Video hasn’t renewed the show after Season 1, there’s a lot of setup for this hopeful future, including opening the door to a Stephen King multiverse after a character in the finale makes reference to The Shining. If that happens, Howell hopes to explore King’s epic The Dark Tower books to really dive into these interconnected worlds, but she’s “not sure if that’s possible or not.”

“I don’t want to be greedy,” she says. “I’m very happy with what we’ve created, and this show has already changed my life. So whatever they want me to do, I’ll be there.”

As Howell envisions a future in the telekinetic wasteland, she shares how she plans to use Carrie’s wardrobe for a Halloween costume, her surprising distaste for horror movies, and her favorite Flanagan shows aside from Carrie.

Elite Daily: What’s your favorite scary movie or show?

Summer H. Howell: I actually don’t watch a ton of horror. I come from a family of chickens, so it just wasn’t what we watched growing up. If I'm watching horror, there needs to be comedic relief or something and not too much gore.

ED: Do you have a Halloween costume picked out for this year?

SHH: I should probably be Carrie this year, I think. I have the clean versions of her prom dress and shoes. I also have the bloodied dress, but I don’t think I’ll be able to put that back on; it’s still drying because it’s covered in glycerin. I have it hung in a beautiful case in my basement.

We'd be delirious late at night, just sharing stories we probably shouldn't tell each other.

ED: Do you have any favorite fall traditions?

SHH: I love tea. I love cuddling up on the couch with my dogs, watching whatever with my mom. Fall walks are nice; I look for four-leaf clovers before they disappear from my yard and watch the leaves change.

ED: What artist do you think will be at the top of your Spotify Wrapped this year?

SHH: Haute & Freddy [who are featured prominently on the Carrie soundtrack]. I discovered them through our show and have been listening to them a lot. I just love the energy they bring, and their aesthetic. They're just fun and goofy in a great way.

ED: What TV show are you currently obsessed with?

SHH: I love anime, so Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is one I’m really into. Hunter x Hunter is another anime I love, which is funny because I watched it right before I was cast in [the unrelated 2020 movie] Hunter Hunter. The universe is always speaking to me in different ways!

ED: Is there a Carrie cast group chat, and if so, what’s it called?

SHH: There are a few, but the first one we all had together was called “Big Bois” — spelled B-O-I-S.

ED: What’s your favorite memory from just hanging out on the set?

SHH: There are so many good memories. Anytime it was a late night in the Whites’ house and I was just lying in the living room talking to Sam [Sloyan, who plays Carrie’s mom] or talking with [director] Hiromi Kamata. I love her to pieces, and she always had funny stories, and we'd be delirious late at night, just sharing stories we probably shouldn't tell each other.

And the rest of the cast, we always got along so well. I worked 12-hour days, so they knew my weekends were mainly for rest. But we still got out and played basketball in the park sometimes. I know they all went kayaking and hiking a lot. My body could not handle that.

ED: Was there a scene that was particularly difficult to film?

SHH: It’s funny, because you’d think I’d say the blood. And that definitely was hard, but we actually filmed the prom scene pretty early on. So I was much more mentally and emotionally exhausted when we did the moment where I’m covered in mud [in Episode 4]. It was cold, and I was tired of crying and screaming, but I still had a lot of that to do.

ED: What was your favorite Mike Flanagan project before Carrie?

SHH: It's between two. The Fall of the House of Usher, because I love how you want the characters to die. I was watching that like, “Oh, how are they going to do it?” And also The Haunting of Hill House is just so perfect. It makes me cry so much.

ED: What are you manifesting for yourself in the future?

SHH: Rest. But also more opportunities to work with cool people. I want to do more action-adventure movies. I filmed my first action movie this summer, and it'll be coming out next year. It's called Runaway, and it stars Josh Duhamel.

ED: How did it feel to break out of the horror genre for that?

SHH: It was so fun. I barely had to cry!

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.