[laughs]

"We're gonna move on, and we're gonna be okay." And then the next day, my manager texted me, "Can you get on a call with Mike Flanagan in half an hour?" And I was like, "Uh, yep, yep.

Of course, I can, I can absolutely do that." Um, and then we just met on Zoom and chatted about the role.

I didn't do any scenes or anything, but we were just, like meeting.

Yeah.

And I think it gives, yeah, license for bullying to just get more and more extreme.

And I think that today, just we've been talking a lot about how important it is to have a sense of who you are and build your identity before having to project one online.

How much of Chris's identity is actually hers? And how much of it is a role she has learned to perform because she knows what gets her the reaction she wants?

That is such a good question.

I think so much of what Chris does is performative.

I think that she's leaning into cruelty for Billy's sake, for his validation, and for her dad's sake.

I also think that for her, power comes from people being afraid of her.

And a lot of the social media aspect of the show is just like she, even though it's anonymous, it's like that audience is such...

It's kind of the only power that she has because she kind of loses so much of her power in the first episode.

You're doing so – it's amazing what you're asking because I never thought about that.

Before we jump on the series, I wanted to talk a little about your career and everything first, you know, like just from the beginning, you know, like what made you jump out of the acting world? I saw that you started at an early age.

Yeah, I am.

I don't actually ever remember making a decision to start acting.

I think I always kind of just knew that that's what I was going to do, which is such a gift.

Like I never went through the phase of like, oh, what am I going to do with my life? I was always just like acting.

Yeah.

That is what I have to do no matter what.

Like, how did you find the humanity? How did you find the humanity in her, like, without excusing, like, the things that she's done?

Mm-hmm.

And Mike told us early on, like, there are no monsters in the show.

Everyone, you know, has their reasons for doing what they're doing, whether they're right or justified, like, I mean, no [laughs] or depending on what people think of the characters.

Um, and also just Mike Flanagan being attached to it.

Mm.

And how she, she doesn't wanna feel the pain, so she wants other people to feel it for her, essentially, and, and she's just lashing out, and she doesn't know how to regulate herself.

She doesn't have any role models, and Carrie is just, like, an outlet.

good um so that's definitely what connected me to Carrie from the start and the fact that this version of her is so open and excited to like meet people because she hasn't she's been in her house her whole life um so that really intrigued me I was like okay they're not just remaking it again they're like expanding it and adapting it and it's yeah I had a lovely time with it all

It was also the writing for me and just how much empathy there is for all of the characters.

And Mike told us early on, like, there are no monsters in the show.

Everyone, you know, has their reasons for doing what they're doing, whether they're right or justified.

Like, I mean, no.

Or depending on what people think of the characters.

And also just Mike Flanagan being attached to it.

When you were getting into that mode of I have to be this, I'm being an awful person today, what gets you there?

But you really do get to lean into that.

I, I don't think that Chris was always like that.

I think, um, she's really shaped by her parents, her father, and, and what she's been taught and how she's been taught that cruelty wins, and you win at all costs, and you don't back down until you, um, have as much power as possible.

Mm.

And I think, unfortunately, that ends up being to Chris' own detriment.

Um, and I think that the, the lack of support that she has at home, uh, plays a big part into why she's so cruel and, um, just not really knowing who she is and, and her acting out and not having coping mechanisms or role models in- influences how she treats Carrie a lot.

But one of the tragedies to me is I think that Chris, in a different environment, maybe with more time with Sue, um, less of Billy-

Those are interesting, traumatic sometimes times.

Do you have memories? I do.

I went to a French school and I remember there was something about like learning the names of different apples in French and like learning the alphabet that I remember.

I don't know.

I had a fun kindergarten for sure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What was he like to work with and what did you two each appreciate most about working with him?

So how did you find these characters? How did you find them? How did you dig in? Is it fun to be bad? Is it fun to be the- these characters in this show?

I mean, acting on this set is so fun.

The characters are so complicated and, like acting-wise, it's so fun to play such interesting people.

Um, I think a lot of the way in for me with Chris was just seeing how much pain she was in and having a lot of empathy for her and not that, that, um, that justifies what she does.

But I think that, like, her actions make sense to her.

And, and, um, yeah, it was just such a treat to be able to work with everyone and, and explore that, and I feel like she had to be so cruel in order to do the story justice.

And, um, you know, we all know what happens at the end of Carrie

How important is it for, for people to see this and, but also at the end of the day, we all just need to treat each other nice and be good people.