How ‘Carrie’ creator Mike Flanagan paid tribute to Matthew Lillard’s iconic ‘Scream’ character

See more of our coverage in your search results. Warning: Spoilers ahead! Do not proceed unless you’ve watched the new “Carrie” miniseries on Amazon Prime Video. Matthew Lillard’s character in Mike Flanagan’s new “Carrie” reboot has a cheeky nod to the actor’s iconic on-screen death in “Scream.” Lillard, who plays Principal Henry Grayle in the Prime Video series, which is out now, dies at the disastrous prom when he’s electrocuted by dangling wires — similar to Stu Macher, who was electrocuted when a TV falls on his head. “[Lillard] was like, ‘I get to get electrocuted again! I was like, ‘but so much more, this time!” Flanagan exclusively told Page Six. In “Carrie,” Matthew Lillard’s character’s death (pictured) is a nod to “Scream,” Mike Flanagan confirmed. Prime Flanagan (pictured with Joel Oulette, Kate Siegel, and Lillard) said Lillard gets electrocuted “so much more, this time.” Clark Studios for Prime Video “It was fun,” Flanagan said, confirming it was a tribute to the classic horror series, which he deemed as “one of the greatest horror films ever made.” “So, I can’t help but always be thinking of that when [Lillard] is around,” he added. “The Haunting of Hill House” creator explained that he also thought it would be appropriate for the principal to get fatally electrocuted in his version of “Carrie,” as a “really tragic end to that character.” Lillard is the principal in “Carrie,” and he gets fatally electrocuted at the disaster prom (pictured). Prime Flanagan said he liked the death (pictured) as a “tragic end” to the principal’s story. Prime “And I loved the visuals of it,” he said, pointing out how there’s fire and water surrounding them in that scene, which made for “a really beautiful image.” In 1996’s “Scream,” Lillard and Skeet Ulrich’s characters — Stu Macher and Billy Loomis — were unmasked as the original Ghostface killers. Stu allegedly met his end during the first movie when he was electrocuted by the TV, though he appeared in “Scream 7” last year as an AI deepfake used by the new killers. Many fans are still convinced he somehow made it out alive. Lillard (pictured in “Carrie”) had a similar electrocution death in “Scream.” Robert Falconer/Prime Flanagan (pictured with Lillard) said he always thinks about “Scream” when he’s with the actor. Stacey Newman / Shutterstock In Flanagan’s reboot of Stephen King’s debut 1974 novel, a sheltered and isolated teen girl Carrie White (Summer H. Howell) is bullied by classmates when she attends school for the first time. The show is set in the present day – not the ‘70s of King’s story, or the first 1976 adaptation starring Sissy Spacek. Mean girl Chris (Alison Thornton) creates an Instagram account spreading gossip about the student body, which causes the school to spiral out of control, as Principal Grayle (Lillard) struggles to contain the chaos. In Flanagan’s “Carrie,” Summer H. Howell seen above in the show, the bullying happens on social media. Carrie gets doused in pig’s blood at prom, in Flanagan’s version of the horror classic (pictured). At prom, Chris conspires to get Carrie elected prom queen, and dumps pig’s blood on her, as a cruel prank. Carrie’s telepathic powers lash out, leading to mass death and destruction. “Carrie” is the latest in a string of splashy horror hits for Flanagan, who also did shows like “Midnight Mass” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.” He’s also working on upcoming movie “The Exorcist: Martyrs,” starring Scarlett Johansson. Lillard (pictured with Rose McGowan in “Scream”) was one of the villains unmakes in the first movie. ©Dimension Films/Courtesy Everett Collection Lillard’s “Scream” character Stu Macher (pictured with Skeet Ulrich and Jamie Kenndy) allegedly died when a TV got pushed on his head. ©Dimension Films/Courtesy Everett Collection “It makes me happy that horror has these cycles. It has these moments. The genre is eternal,” Flanagan told Page Six. He said he “loves” that the genre “keeps surprising people by being terrific. We are in a particularly interesting moment right now, because we saw last year this incredible upswell in event horror.” “The Haunting of Bly Manor” creator cited “Weapons” and “Sinners” as “big movies” that showed “why people want to go to the multiplex.” Flanagan (pictured) said he’s enjoying seeing “Obsession” and “Resident Evil” take “the world by storm.” Getty Images for IMDb Flanagan (pictured with the “Carrie” cast on Sept. 28, 2026) said he loves the current horror resurgence “for audiences.” Clark Studios for Prime Video Flanagan also noted that sleeper hits like “Obsession” and “Backrooms” are “the other side of the coin” with “younger filmmakers coming out of YouTube” who are having “huge horror success.” The “Midnight Club” creator added that it’s “wonderful” to see those films, as well as Zach Cregger’s “Resident Evil” taking “the world by storm,” which shows “the vitality and the diversity of the genre.” Flanagan noted that he loves the current horror resurgence, “I love it for cinema, I loved it for Hollywood – and, I mostly loved it for audiences.” “Carrie” is now streaming on Prime Video. 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