Sissy Spacek Went to Disturbing Lengths to Play ‘Carrie,’ Including Sleeping in a Blood-Soaked Dress

If you saw Brian De Palma‘s Carrie in a darkened theater way back in 1976 or maybe stumbled across it late at night on TV years later, chances are there are a bunch of scenes that you still remember vividly even today. Yep, without a doubt, even though it is now a half-century old, Stephen King‘s first feature film adaptation still holds up pretty darn well.

And what occurred when the cameras weren’t rolling on the set of Carrie is almost as intense as the story on screen. Because, you see, to play the ultimate high school outcast, the movie’s star, Sissy Spacek, put herself through a dark method acting process that really took a toll on her mentally.