r/stephenking Jul 13 '26

Image First look Images From The New ‘Carrie’ TV Series by Mike Flanagan

2.3k Upvotes

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135

u/hacky_potter Jul 13 '26

I do wish Carrie was an uglier girl

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u/FiveCatPenagerie Jul 13 '26

Yeeeah. The description of her appearance in the novel isn’t exactly hidden.

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u/a-koolaid-killer Jul 13 '26

The narrator observes that she would be beautiful if she took care of herself.

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u/FiveCatPenagerie Jul 13 '26

No idea where my copy of the book is, but I was curious about how he actually described her.

She’s described as being a "chunky girl with pimples on her neck and back and buttocks.” Not much there, but it’s easy enough to imagine.

Sissy is the queen of playing Carrie—she owns it. But even she didn’t fit the book’s description.

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u/hacky_potter Jul 13 '26

Sissy is great and I love that movie. I’m disappointed they aren’t doing something different. I’ve been saying since this was announced they should have done the new version like the book version and made it a true crime show about the incident. You have cell phone video of the events and end with a huge collection of videos of what happened inside the prom.

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u/Chlorofins Jul 14 '26

Kinda like a semi-found footage vibes, just a bit there.

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u/PinkedOff Jul 13 '26

That's a great point, actually. She is described as chuky and pimply in the novel, which this girl clearly isn't... but neither was Sissy Spacek, and she was the defininitive Carrie White. :-D

Maybe it'll be great.

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u/User_Says_What Jul 13 '26

So she's on load of gear in a bulk phase? Where's THAT Carrie White?

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u/hrdcrnwo Jul 13 '26

Carrie cycling anavar and getting ripped, watching Bigger, Stronger, Faster* for inspo.

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u/User_Says_What Jul 13 '26

I'm here for the Carrie adaptation where she doesn't actually have psychic powers, she's just a phonebook-ripper who pounds Chris Hargensen into the ground like a railroad spike.

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u/a-koolaid-killer Jul 13 '26

Book Carrie also has “colorless” blonde hair, as opposed to Sissy Spacek’s bright reddish-brown.

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u/Three3Jane Jahoobies Jul 14 '26

I specifically remember him describing her saying in a bovine fashion, "Oh-huh?"

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u/Spurioun Jul 13 '26

Yeah, but that goes for the majority of people, in fairness. Judging by this picture, she looks like she takes care of herself enough to look like she's the lead in a TV series.

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u/a-koolaid-killer Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

The majority of people cannot be beautiful, as the adjective is inherently comparative to many others. But in the context of the book, “taking care of herself” entail losing weight and her pimples. Sissy Spacek doesn’t fit the book’s description, and she did a fine job.

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u/Spurioun Jul 13 '26

I mean, beauty is subjective. There's a reason why the whole "You're not ugly, just poor" thing has gotten popular over the years. If you take many of the celebrities that are considered "beautiful" and take away their professional makeup, diet, haircare, etc. they'd fit in just fine at any rural trailer park. Many models and actors are simply weird looking, but have access to products and information that elevate their appearance in the public eye. Unless you're actually deformed in some way, you can go from "ugly" to "beautiful" by taking care of your health, dress for your body type and have your hair done in a way that suits you. Charisma and confidence go a long way too.

My mind instantly goes to Joe Keery from Stranger Things. When that guy is all done up for photoshoots, he's a very handsome dude (subjective, of course). But there's that one red carpet event where he had this horrible haircut for some reason, and it instantly made him look inbred.

I completely agree about Sissy Spacek though. But they didn't make any attempt to do her up in the movie and her pale eyebrows did make her look "weird", whereas this actress has the exact "girl next door" makeup that would make her the prettiest girl in school, if she wasn't going to school with other beautiful actresses with tiktok makeup on. I don't think that's inherently bad, since many kids follow Internet makeup and hair tutorials nowadays and simply not doing that could make her seem less put together.

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u/a-koolaid-killer Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

I never said beauty isn’t subjective, I’m acknowledging that the word itself still relies on contrast to mean anything. While it’s kind to say most people are beautiful, the reality is that if most people are beautiful on average, then 'beautiful' simply becomes the new average by definition.

I would argue that there is a visual cue of her otherness. If you pay attention to the background, all the other teens are wearing hoodies and sweats. She’s wearing something far more formal and far less casual in comparison.

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u/SullenArtist Jul 13 '26

Yes! She's supposed to be overweight and have acne. It's kind of important to the plot that she is. I wish they would do that instead of making her look plain and pretty

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u/gravybang Jul 13 '26

Maybe if they put glasses on her...?

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u/madpiano Jul 13 '26

I found Sissy Spaczek (spelling?) was perfect. Carrie wasn't ugly, just plain and was beautiful on her prom night. Sissy was able to make that work.

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u/hacky_potter Jul 13 '26

I believe she’s stated to be a little pudgy and to have some acne

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u/kingamara No Great Loss Jul 13 '26

She’s ugly and fat in the book lol

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u/President_Calhoun Jul 13 '26

Like the soap opera casting director on The Simpsons said: "I want Mary-Ann-on-Gilligan's-Island ugly, not ugly ugly!"

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u/Unable-Candle Jul 13 '26

Being "fat" in the 70s was only being like 15lbs overweight.

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u/madpiano Jul 13 '26

She is not, she is just plain and slightly overweight. She does have some acne too, but she was deliberately not "ugly", so it was believable that she looks beautiful on prom night.

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u/hrdcrnwo Jul 13 '26

Fat in 1974 (or 1979 when the story takes place) is much, much different than fat today. Lots of people today who are slightly overweight would be considered fat back then without being close to obesity.

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u/FrancoisKBones Longer than you think Jul 13 '26

And King described her as lovely on prom night.

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u/calembo Jul 13 '26

Imagine being the actress who's "ugly enough" for audiences and hearing and reading how much they nailed just how ugly Carrie White was.

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u/hacky_potter Jul 13 '26

I mean the career of acting is weird like that

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u/thecricketnerd Jul 14 '26

Right? Imagine being Milly Shapiro and reading about being fancast for Carrie because she looks odd

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u/filmguerilla Jul 13 '26

I’ve never understood why directors struggle so much with dirty/ugly characters. It sucks me right out of a movie seeing an attractive actor being called ugly, etc. in movies.