Summer H. Howell made her red-carpet debut at the sixth annual Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Gala in Los Angeles on October 17, arriving as TV’s newest Carrie White just after the launch of Mike Flanagan’s Prime Video miniseries.
The 22-year-old Canadian actress wore a black strapless gown with a velvet sweetheart bodice, a structured peplum that flares into pointed edges at the hips, and a multi-layered tulle ballgown skirt that pooled on the floor. She finished it with a low updo, bold red lip, a thin necklace and a few rings. The one blood-adjacent note on a night celebrating horror was the lipstick.
The setting fit the role. Raising upward of $14 million, the gala that’s been nicknamed the “Met Gala of the West” put the museum’s new The Horror Show exhibition in the spotlight, handed John Carpenter its Luminary Award and featured a Taylor Swift performance.
Howell has been in the genre since childhood. She was discovered tagging along to her older brother’s auditions, landed a Crest commercial and then, at about 9, played Alice Pierce in Curse of Chucky, a role she reprised in Cult of Chucky. Carrie is her first major leading television role.
More than 1,400 other actresses lost out to her after a self-tape process that got underway in January 2025. After Flanagan sent her tapes to Stephen King, he reportedly said, “Well, it has to be her, doesn’t it? Just look at her. This is such an amazing and interesting take on the character.” Howell has said she felt she had been “preparing to be Carrie my whole life.”
The Hollywood Reporter called her “TV’s Newest Scream Queen.” She says she still loves horror but would like to try action, comedy or dramedy, and she has already filmed an action movie called Runaway.
