Amy Irving as Sue Snell
In Carrie, adapted from a Stephen King novel, the 'force' at the center of the tale is not an object as with The Shining or Christine, but a person; and the fact that this is an adolescent girl relates the film to the cycle of movies such as The Exorcist, Rosemary's baby and The Omen, in which children become the destructive instruments to the order surrounding them. The heroine, the repressed daughter of a religious obsessive is unpopular at school and made by her classmates the butt of a hideous joke in which she is voted by a rigged ballot as queen of the senior prom, the horribly humiliated by being drenched by a bucket of pigs' blood. However, Carrie has discovered that she possesses telekinetic powers and wreaks an apocalyptic vengeance which reduces the school to rubble. The climactic effects sequence is astonishing, especially the death of Laurie, who after denouncing her daughter as a witch is impaled by a veritable hail of flying knives. As in Dressed to Kill, director de Palma ends the film with a dream sequence calculated to make the audience jump.
Biography for Amy Irving
Date of birth
10 September 1953
Palo Alto, California, USA
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Trivia
Her prenuptial agreement with filmmaker Steven Spielberg netted her an estimated cool $100m when the couple split in 1989.
Currently in a relationship with Bruno Barreto
Daughter of Priscilla Pointer and Jules Irving (I)
(1979) Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1979" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 31.
When she reprised her role from Carrie (1976) as Sue Snell in Rage: Carrie 2, The (1999), Irving can be seen banging on the door of the ill-fated party to be allowed in. She did the same thing in the original film in which her character is banging on the door of the gym to be let in during the famous bloodletting prom scene.
Amy Irving was the subject of a running joke in the comic book E-Man, published by Charlton Comics and later by First Comics. One of the supporting characters, Teddy Q, a sentient (though mute--think Snoopy-like) koala, was in love with her, and frequently sent her fan mail.
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Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
This girlishly beautiful actress, with captivating blue eyes, launched a starring career in the late 1970s that never quite came to fruition. If anything, she's fared better on Broadway in a number of well-received performances, though she's impressed moviegoers with her work in such films as Carrie (1976, as a semi-sympathetic coed), The Fury (1978), Voices (1979, as a deaf woman), The Competition (1980, as a concert pianist), Honeysuckle Rose (also 1980), and Micki + Maude (1984). She was Oscar-nominated for her supporting role in Barbra Streisand's Yentl (1983), but got her best opportunities some years later in Crossing Delancey (1988, as a slightly eccentric New York bookseller) and A Show of Force (1990, as a TV reporter investigating political corruption in Puerto Rico). Two of her most vivid performances were unseen by audiences: as the singing voice of sexy Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and as a not dissimilar character in An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991). Irving's parents are actress Priscilla Pointer and acting teacher Jules Irving. She worked with her mother in 1987's Rumpelstiltskin which was directed by her brother David Irving. She was married for several years to director Steven Spielberg.
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Tuck Everlasting (2002) .... Augusta Foster
Impressionists, The (2001) (TV) (voice)
13 Conversations About One Thing (2001) .... Patricia
Acting 'Carrie' (2001) (V) .... Herself
Traffic (2000) .... Barbara Wakefield
... aka Traffic - Die Macht des Kartells (2001) (Germany)
Bossa Nova (2000) .... Mary Ann
Blue Ridge Fall (1999) .... Ellie
Rage: Carrie 2, The (1999) .... Counselor Susan 'Sue' D. Snell
Confession, The (1999) .... Sara Fertig
"Stories from My Childhood" (1998) TV Series .... Beauty
... aka "Mikhail Baryshnikov's Stories from My Childhood" (1998) (USA: complete title)
One Tough Cop (1998) .... F.B.I. Agent Jean Devlin
Deconstructing Harry (1997) .... Jane
I'm Not Rappaport (1996) .... Clara Gelber
Carried Away (1996) .... Rosealee Hensen
... aka Acts of Love (1996) (UK)
Kleptomania (1995) .... Diana Allen
"Century of Women, A" (1994) (mini) TV Series (voice)
Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994) (TV) .... James' Fiancee (segment "The Theater")
Benefit of the Doubt (1993) .... Karen
... aka Im Bann des Zweifels (1993) (Germany)
American Tail: Fievel Goes West, An (1991) (voice) .... Miss Kitty
Turn of the Screw, The (1990/I) (TV) .... The Governess
Show of Force, A (1990) .... Kate Melendez
Nightmare Classics (1989) (TV)
Crossing Delancey (1988) .... Isabelle Grossman
She's Having a Baby (1988) (uncredited) .... Cameo appearance
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (voice) .... Jessica Rabbit (singing)
Rumpelstiltskin (1987) .... Katie
Funny, You Don't Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville (1987) (TV)
Heartbreak House (1986) (TV) .... Ellie Dunn
Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986) (TV) .... Anna Anderson
Micki + Maude (1984) .... Maude Salinger
Terror in the Aisles (1984) (archive footage) .... Sue Snell (segment "Carrie")
... aka Time for Terror (1984) (Europe: English title: video title)
"Far Pavilions, The" (1984) (mini) TV Series .... Princess Anjuli
... aka "Blade of Steel" (1984) (mini)
Film Is Born: The Making of Yentl, A (1983) (TV) .... Herself / Hadass
... aka Barbra Streisand: A Film Is Born (1983) (TV) (USA: informal title)
Yentl (1983) .... Hadass
Competition, The (1980) .... Heidi Joan Schoonover
Honeysuckle Rose (1980) .... Lily Ramsey
... aka On the Road Again (1980) (USA: reissue title)
Voices (1979) .... Rosemarie Lemon
Fury, The (1978) .... Gillian Bellaver
I'm a Fool (1976) (TV)
"Once an Eagle" (1976) (mini) TV Series .... Emily Pawlfrey Massengale
Carrie (1976) .... Sue Snell
Panache (1976) (TV) .... Anne
Dynasty (1976/I) (TV) .... Amanda Blackwood
... aka Americans, The (1976) (TV) (USA)
... aka James A. Michener's Dynasty (1976) (TV)
James Dean (1976) (TV) .... Norma Jean
... aka Legend, The (1976) (TV)