Joel Oulette

I, I'm not gonna kn- I'm not gonna, A, pronounce all the names great, uh, right, and know all of, and know who they play.

Uh, Sienna Agudong, Alyson Thornton, Joel Oulette, uh, Jose Tota, Arthur Conti, Phyla Dulek, Amber Midthunder, who was fantastic in, uh, the Predator: Prey, uh, miniseries over on, uh, Hulu, uh, a couple of years ago.

Actually, it was more than a couple of years ago.

I think it was during COVID, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah.

Um, Joel Oulette, who plays Tommy Ross.

Get him in a romance film, stat.

Stat.

Like, the show is just so good.

It's also complimented by a performance by Canadian superstar king himself, Joel Oulette, who if you have not already fallen in love with Joel, like, I'm so happy for you that you will now fall [laughs] in love with Joel Oulette, 'cause he's one of the most iconic Canadian actors coming up right now.

He was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for his performance in Trickster, his leading performance in Trickster, which is a phenomenal show that came out in 2020.

Um, I first interviewed him for his TIFF premiere, his very first TIFF premiere at that, um, for an incredible movie, a Canadian movie that he made called Can I Get a Witness? You might recognize him from Avatar: The Last Airbender, uh, the short Julian and the Wind, which had a bit of an iconic moment in 2024.

But Joel is really that, like, shining star, the Canadian focal point of Carrie.

And he is worth supporting, y'all.

So if you tune in for nothing else, tune in to support Joel Oulette.

He's gonna be the internet boyfriend of the month, I just know it.

The tonal balancing act of the novel is staggering.

When it was adapted for television by filmmaker Michelle Latimer and co-creator Tony Elliott, starring Joel Oulette as Jared, it was celebrated as a massive landmark moment.

When it premiered in the fall of 2020 and aired on the CW in the US, it was the first time the network had ever developed a primetime drama based on books by an Indigenous author.

And critically speaking, it produced some of the most distinctive, visually arresting, and confident hours of television the CBC had aired in a decade.

Do you remember him from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel? He's a dropout still hanging around the high school, and he's a bad influence.

Uh, then who's Tommy Ross? Well, that role goes to, role goes to Joel Oulette, and I can certainly see why he was cast, but he looks way too old for high school.

He, in fact, looks too old to be in college, I think.

So when they have him and Carrie hanging out, you're like, "Uh, I think someone should report this." So as good as he is, he just seems too old for the role, I think, particularly with how young the re- I mean, it's not like everybody was cast as full-on adults in high school like they used to do, like, in the '90s and stuff.

You know, all the other actors are, like, somewhat age-appropriate for the roles, and then in walks Joel Oulette, right? [laughs] He's like, "Hello, fellow kids," and you're like, "Get him out of here," again, as good as he is.

Sienna Agudong is also very good as a popular girl who tries to befriend Carrie, but you know, she's torn.

None of, everybody else is telling her not to talk to her.

She's spent her whole life hidden at home being homeschooled with her mother, Margaret, played by Samantha Sloyan, back in the Flanagan fold after Midnight Mass, and so memorable in Midnight Mass, until the death of the father sends her wide-eyed and blinking into an American high school full of smartphones and short tempers.

And around her orbit, uh, Sienna Agudong's Sue Snell, Alison Thornton's Chris Hargensen, and Joel Oulette's Tommy Ross, and Amber Midtunder's ever-patient Miss Desjardin.

And Matthew Lillard makes a lovely appearance as the principal of the school.

So what do you make of this? The first question has got to be, why are we readapting Carrie again?

William Katt in 1976 famously wearing that ruffled tuxedo shirt, which the article rightly points out is now embedded in pop culture history.

Tobias Mehler in 2002, Ansel Elgort bringing a sort of effortless modern charm in 2013, and now Joel Oulette takes the role.

Tommy is the boy who tries to do the right thing even if he doesn't fully understand the stakes.

But Billy Nolan, Billy is the dark mirror.