[close] Carrie is slightly chunky around the middle, with dirty-blonde hair that is long and flat. With pimples on her neck, back, and buttocks, she is considered unattractive and repulsive. However, she used to be a very pretty girl when she was younger.
Carrie's telekinetic powers are present throughout her life, usually evident in childhood incidents. She had closed a window and had dangled her own bottle above her crib when she was a baby. When she was three years old, she witnessed her teenage next-door neighbor sunbathing and asked her mother about the girl's breasts. Her mother scolded and physically abused Carrie for asking about such a matter. While she was inside her house, Carrie brought forth a hail of ice that smashed the bungalow. The chunks of ice were followed by a shower of rocks that plummeted onto the property, damaging it heavily while a table was almost sent toppling through the window.
At the age of 17, after many years of the telekinesis remaining dormant, Carrie is in the shower after a physical education class when she has her first menstrual period. Already an outcast, Carrie is tormented by her peers, and taps into her telekinesis again. Now aware of her power, Carrie begins to practice and harness the power.
When she is asked to the prom by Tommy Ross, Carrie attempts to say no, even though she has a crush on him. Eventually, she says yes, and is nervous but happy. Her mother attempts to stop Carrie from going, but Carrie insists on trying to fit in, not wanting to be weird anymore. She makes her own dress, and is described as being beautiful as Tommy Ross escorts her to the prom.
At the dance, she gradually comes out of her shell, and even makes jokes while she converses with other promgoers. As she is accepted by the crowd, she begins to enjoy herself for once. Carrie and Tommy get elected the prom's king and queen, but while on stage, a bucket of pigs blood gets poured on Carrie by Christine "Chris" Hargensen. Humiliated, Carrie runs out of the gym, and she soon thinks of a way to exact her revenge. Walking back to the gym, Carrie suddenly slams all the gym doors shut. She uses her telekinesis to turn on the sprinklers, and the water sets off an electrical fire. Many of the promgoers die, but some escape through the emergency exit. [close]