Filming for “Carrie” took place in various locations in California. The interior shots were predominately filmed at the Culver City Studios, while the bucket of blood scene was shot at Farmer John’s Pig Mural in Vernon. The high school scenes were shot at the Palisade High School in the Pacific Palisades. Other sites that served as filming locations for “Carrie” include Santa Paula, San Fernando, and Hermosa Beach. In this article, you will also learn more about the lead actress, Sissy Spacek.
There is a connection to the 1960 Hitchcock film “Psycho,” as the name of the high school was called Bates High , paying homage to Norman Bates. Also, the violin theme that consisted of four notes that appeared in Psycho was continuously used throughout the movie.
“Carrie” came pretty close to not having the iconic actress Sissy Spacek. She wasn’t even in contention for the role until her husband (Jack Fisk) was able to persuade the director to give her a chance at auditioning. De Palma was so pleased with her audition that she was given the lead role. You probably didn’t know, but Melanie Griffith auditioned for the role of Carrie , can you imagine what the outcome would have been?
In the beginning, P.J. Soles was cast to appear for only two weeks, but after she hit Sissy Spacek over the head with her red baseball cap during the filming of the volleyball scene , De Palma decided she should stay a little longer.
Even though Sissy Spacek was willing to have real blood poured over her, the “pig’s blood” was actually a combination of food coloring and Karo syrup.
To create the dizzying effect shown during the prom scene , Sissy Spacek and William Katt were placed on a platform that spun in one direction, while the camera was moved in the opposition direction.
The part of Sue Snell and her mother were actually played by a mother-daughter team of real life , Amy Irving and Priscilla Pointer.
Stephen King is known for creating many novels that have been transformed into movies, but “Carrie” was the first.
The original script of “Carrie” called for a model of the White residence to suffer a hair of crushing rocks, but the filmmakers had the darndest time trying to achieve this effect. In the end, they tossed aside the idea of using rocks and instead , decided to burn it down. They liked the outcome so much, that it became part of the film.
Did you know that Amy Irving, who played Sue Snell in “Carrie,” originally auditioned for the role of Princess Leia in “Star Wars,” while William Katt (Tommy Ross) originally read for the part of Luke Skywalker.
Until after the film was complete, Nancy Allen claims that she as unaware that her character was going to appear so wretched. In the beginning, she thought she was slated to depict a self-centered students that bickered amongst one another to add comic relief to the picture. Piper Laurie felt that her role as Margaret White was so far-fetched that the film was meant as a comedy as well.