Where Are They Now? : Sissy Spacek

You’ll be hard pressed to find an actress as decorated as Sissy Spacek. To put it bluntly, she is the recipient of 4 BAFTA Awards, 3 Emmy Nominations, 3 Golden Globes, 1 Grammy Nomination, 1 Oscar, 1 People’s Choice Award, and 1 Screen Actors Guild Award.

Sissy Spacek was born in December of 1949 in the good ol’ state of Texas. In high school she was voted Prom Queen, a title that is now ironic in itself. She began studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute, but dropped out after her brother’s premature death which she foresaw as a lesson that life is too short to waste. She began modeling and acting, and she even auditioned to be signed to Decca Records as a singer, but was turned down. Coincidentally, Sissy is the first cousin of Rip Torn, and he was able to use his influence to open doors in Hollywood for her.

Sissy’s first big break came in the form of a recurring role on “The Waltons” in 1973. From there, her bright talent and unique beauty started her down the path of greatness. In the same year she booked the lead role in crime-drama Badlands opposite Martin Sheen. However, what horror fans will most likely remember her the most for is playing the title character in Carrie (1976). Carrie saw Spacek playing a young high school girl who discovers she possesses the power of telekinesis and uses it for revenge on the night of her prom. It would be nominated for two Oscars, and the movie based on Stephen King’s novel has become one of the greatest horror films of all time.

Continuing with her hit streak, Sissy starred in the Oscar Winning film Coal Miner’s Daughter opposite Tommy Lee Jones. She then appeared in the Oscar Winning drama Missing (1982), 4x Oscar Nominated The River (1984) opposite Mel Gibson, a cameo in JFK (1991), Oscar Winning Affliction (1997) opposite Nick Notle, and the Oscar Nominated The Straight Story (1999). This marked the end of three decades of hit films in her career.

So, where is Sissy Spacek now?

In the new century Sissy continued to book roles in high quality indie films and big Hollywood productions. Her roles included 4x Oscar Nominated In the Bedroom (2001) opposite Tom Wilkinson and Nick Stahl and a small appearance in A Home at the End of the World (2004) opposite Colin Farrell. Then, for the first time in 29 years, Sissy returned to the world of horror in The Ring Two (2005). This time she played the lead role of Evelyn, the mother of Samara. She followed up this applauded return with a small appearance in the 2x Oscar Nominated feature North County. In the same year, Spacek also played the lead role of Lucy Bell in An American Haunting (2005). In this movie she plays the mother of Betsy, a young girl in the early 19th century being haunted by an unseen force.

Three years later, Sissy would land a lead role in Four Christmases starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn. She’d also star in Get Low (2009) opposite Robert Duvall and Bill Murray. Her first big television role in some time, Sissy appeared in “Big Love” in 2010 as Marilyn Densham. Her last Hollywood feature to date was a small part in Oscar Winner The Help in 2011. During her noteworthy career, Sissy racked up other film jobs including set dresser in Death Game (1977), special thanks in Eraserhead (1977), her archive footage used in The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999), and commentator in A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King (2011).