Every version of Carrie needs a Chris Hargensen, and Alison Thornton has given the infamous high school bully something new—a heart that’s breaking underneath all the cruelty. In Mike Flanagan’s eight-episode adaptation of Stephen King’s classic for Prime Video, Thornton plays Chris as both monstrous and deeply wounded, and viewers can’t stop talking about her.
Thornton has worked since childhood. She had early roles in Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce and the cult favorite Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency before her breakout as Tacy Cassidy in USA Network’s cutthroat cheerleading drama Dare Me. More recently, she’s appeared in School Spirits, Tracker and the Legally Blonde prequel Elle, and starred in the films What Comes Next and And Love Knocked. Born and raised in Vancouver to American parents, she’s fluent in English and French, splits her time between Vancouver and Los Angeles, and spends her downtime skiing and hiking.
Here, she talks about finding Chris’s vulnerability, the beauty choices that tracked her character’s unraveling and what it’s really like to film those blood-soaked scenes.
I mean this as a compliment: You play a mean girl so well, but you also show the emotion underneath. How did you approach Chris?
“It was really important to me to make sure that as mean as she is, she’s also equally as vulnerable. The meanness isn’t just coming from a place of cruelty and wanting to destroy Carrie. A lot of it is because Chris herself is in so much pain, and she doesn’t have any healthy role models or good coping mechanisms. It all manifests as aggression. That doesn’t justify anything she does, but she is also just a kid who’s really hurting.”
Was it hard to shake the character off at the end of the day?
“This is a testament to Mike Flanagan and the set environment he creates. It felt so safe, and it was such a supportive environment. The cast got really close. We had three weeks of rehearsal before we started shooting, so we were able to establish a level of trust. For a lot of the darkest sequences, we would do the scene, and then Summer [Howell, who plays Carrie] and I would high-five at the end and be like: ‘That was very dark, but we did it.’ Leaning on the cast helped me come out of it and remember that at the end of the day, it’s pretend, and I adore them so much.”
What helped you get into character, beauty-wise?
“There were a few things. I’m naturally a brunette, and they wanted me to be blonde for the show. As soon as my hair was bleached, I was walking around in my costume and holding myself differently. It added a level of separation between me and the character that made it easier to look in the mirror and not see myself.
Brooke Fenton, who did my makeup, is such an incredible artist. She told the whole story just with Chris’s makeup. Earlier in the season, especially around episode four, when Chris is at her most powerful, she’s so much more done up. She has more glam, her lips are overlined, and she’s just wearing more makeup. As Chris’s life spirals out of control, she gets more and more disheveled, and you can see it in her makeup.
Tammy Joe, our amazing costume designer, told an entire story through Chris’s wardrobe, too. When Chris is feeling really powerful, she takes more fashion risks and shows more skin. As her life falls apart, she starts dressing younger and younger, with less color and more gray and darker tones. So many beauty choices did so much storytelling.”
I hope this isn’t a spoiler alert, but since the original film came out 50 years ago, it seems fair to bring up. The blood is legendary. What was it like filming those scenes, and how did you get it all off?
“That was Brooke Fenton again, helping me at the end of the day with a million makeup wipes. I personally love being covered in blood. I don’t know why. I find it really fun, and it feels like Halloween. I only had it for a couple of days. Summer had to be in blood head to toe for, I think, 21 days.
It’s so helpful acting-wise, because you look in the mirror, see yourself covered in blood, and your brain goes, ‘Something is wrong!’ So it’s easier to get into a darker headspace. At the end of the day, you take a shower and hope it all comes out. There were definitely weeks where I was walking around with blood in my fingernails, going to coffee shops and trying not to alarm people.”
What is fake blood made of?
“I think a lot of it is corn syrup. There are different versions. Edible blood is different from blood that goes on your skin, and with edible blood, they’ll usually ask what flavor you like. I always choose mint, so it just tastes like mouthwash. There are also different types of blood for different shots. The blood that gets dumped on Carrie is very different from the blood that’s painted on our skin, which helps protect our skin and hair.”
You are a fake-blood expert! You split your time between Vancouver and LA. How do you take care of your skin with all that travel?
“I’m a big fan of simple skin care. I like to get facials, especially when I’m working. Otherwise, it’s usually just a nice cleanser, serum and moisturizer. The simpler I’ve kept my routine, the better my skin has felt. And when I’m flying around, the biggest skin-care secret I’ve learned is to drink so much water.”
How does it feel to be part of something so buzzy right now? Is it exciting, overwhelming or just a fun time?
“All of the above. It’s so exciting. It’s such a gift to feel like we’ve affected an audience as much as we have. I’m trying to stay off my phone a little because there’s a lot of noise around the show, but I’m also celebrating. My favorite part has been the conversations around the characters, seeing people fight online about whose side they’re on and who’s in the right. Everyone is so invested in the storylines.
People have come up to me in Vancouver, and I’m getting texts from family and friends saying: ‘I did not know you had that in you.’ I find that really funny. The cast is in constant communication, sending each other memes we’re finding of each other. I don’t think we could have asked for a better response.”
