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Carrie: Lillard Praises Flanagan Approach to Stephen King Novel, Cast

Matthew Lillard has nothing but love for the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie, Mike Flanagan's approach, and his castmates.

A little more than a month after we learned that filming had wrapped on writer/director Mike Flanagan and Prime Video's Summer H. Howell and Siena Agudong-starring series adaptation of bestselling author Stephen King's classic 1974 novel Carrie, Matthew Lillard (Scream, Five Nights at Freddy's 2) is offering some big praise for Flanagan's approach to bringing the novel to live-action life. "'Carrie's' brilliant. Mike Flanagan – who I worked with on 'Life of Chuck' – he is just the single greatest force of nature in this industry," Lillard (who plays Principal Grayle in the series) shared with GamesRadar+. "We rehearsed for three weeks. He had plotted out every shot in the entire film. He had it down to the minute in terms of he amount of time it would take to shoot. He developed an app so you could see where they were in shooting. I mean, he's so prolific and profound and such a great storyteller. So that's the first thing."

"The second thing is the cast is incredible. It's three different sort of sections. It's the story Carrie written by Stephen King. It's really a pure adaptation of the book [more] than the original movie was. The De Palma film is really about sort of one aspect, but there's a lot that happens in the book that's been introduced to the show. And then there's three different tiers – the teachers and the parents, and the students. The teachers and the parents are kind of the varsity level of actors, you know, old. It's just a way of calling the old actors. And then the kids…the kids are freaking brilliant. They're brilliant actors. I would watch them work, and I was blown away at their ability to be honest and truthful," he added. "And we saw the first three episodes cut before we even left Vancouver, Mike had already finished and picture-locked the first three episodes, which was remarkable. But the show's great. It's really fantastic. The only thing that sucks is you have to wait a year to see it, because it's so good."

The streaming series adaptation is being described as a bold and timely reimagining of the story of misfit high-schooler Carrie White, who has spent her life in seclusion with her domineering mother. After her father's sudden and untimely death, Carrie finds herself contending with the alien landscape of public High School, a bullying scandal that shatters her community, and the emergence of mysterious telekinetic powers.

Along with Howell and Agudong, the series cast includes Matthew Lillard (Five Nights at Freddy's) as Principal Grayle, Samantha Sloyan (The Fall of the House of Usher) as Carrie's mom, Margaret White; Alison Thornton (Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce) as Chris Hargensen, Thalia Dudek (The Running Man) as Emaline, Amber Midthunder (Legion) as Miss Desjardin, Josie Totah (The Buccaneers) as Tina, Arthur Conti (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) as Billy, and Joel Oulette (Sullivan's Crossing) as Tommy.

In addition, Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco, Katee Sackhoff, Rahul Kohli, Heather Graham, and Delainey Hayles are set for recurring roles, alongside Crystal Balint, Danielle Klaudt, Tim Bagley, Tahmoh Penikett, Mapuana Makia, Rowan Danielle, Naika Toussaint, and Cassandra Naud. Here's a look back at Flanagan's post announcing the start of production:

Carrie: Flanagan on What The Series Won't Be; Stephen King's Approval

Speaking with Variety in support of his feature film adaptation of King's work, The Life of Chuck, Flanagan discussed the importance of coming up with a unique and timely reason to tell Carrie White's story that would work for him and King. In addition, Flanagan previews the approach that the series will take by revealing what it won't be. Here are the highlights:

Flanagan on Being Able to Answer "Why?" (For Himself and Stephen King): "I initially thought, 'Why? It's been done.' And then I found an answer to that question, and it made me very excited. But when I went to Steve, his answer was 'Why?' His first response was, 'Leave her alone. She's been through enough.' But it's that thing where the more information I could share, and sending him the bible and the plan for the show, he could see the thing we were trying to do that was new. Then he said, 'Ohh, now I'm interested, just as a fan. I'm excited to see where this goes.' Once he said yes, then we were off, because if Steve had said no, I wouldn't do it. So the relationship has evolved, but he's always remained incredibly respectful of separating the book and the movie."

For Flanagan, It's About "What We're Not Doing": "The thing I would say is the original story is half a century old, and it's wonderful. Its themes were about youth and bullying and the consequences of that. I believe that in today's modern world, the power of what it means to be a bully, the breadth of that, and the impact of bullying have changed a lot. The central tenets are still the same, but it's about much more than Carrie White. I can't really talk about what we're doing; I can only really talk about what we're not doing. We're not retelling the story as it's been told, and we're not making a show about telekinesis. It's in there, but that's not what it's about. There's a version of it where Carrie White carries a tragic superhero origin story that goes horribly wrong. I feel like they've done that, too. So we're focused way more on the destruction of a community through these very modern tools. What happens in a world where the internet has created an environment of perceived anonymity? Carrie White in the locker room in every iteration is a horrifying scene. Carrie White in the locker room when people have phones in their hands is a whole different thing."

Flanagan will serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner, and is expected to direct some episodes. Trevor Macy is also set to executive produce, with Amazon MGM Studios producing.

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