Sissy Spacek

Sissy Spacek enters Andy Warhol’s diary as both a rising screen performer and a subject of close observation: during a 1977 Interview magazine assignment, Warhol records how her public persona seemed to shift between a restrained interview, a crowd of admirers, and a photographic session. The diary also links her to an earlier appearance in Warhol’s film work and to his admiration for her in Carrie.

Background and Earlier Film Connection

During her Interview magazine conversation with Warhol and Bob Colacello at The Sherry-Netherland on April 7, 1977, Spacek described herself as Czech and said she came from a Czechoslovakian town in Texas. She also surprised Warhol by recalling that she had appeared as an extra in Women in Revolt, in a crowd scene filmed in Paul Morrissey’s basement on East 6th Street. She remembered another connection to the Factory’s films: she had sung in the background on the Lonesome Cowboys theme-song recording. These recollections place her within Warhol’s earlier, loosely connected film world before their magazine interview brought her back into his daily orbit.

The Interview and Its Audience

Warhol found the interview difficult because Spacek needed to keep her answers clean for her young fans, and he felt that she was giving stock responses. The setting made the tension between a controlled celebrity image and its audience visible: when they walked through the hotel lobby among screaming admirers, he observed that her manner changed. He also noted a different transformation when she was photographed for Interview magazine by Barry McKinley. In Warhol’s account, Spacek became absorbed in the act of being photographed, while McKinley used a forceful, unconventional style of direction that struck Warhol enough for him to record it.

The session also exposed a lapse in the magazine’s preparation. Spacek’s mother was present, and Warhol initially worried that she might think Spacek was fifteen and encounter material in the magazine unsuitable for someone that age. He then learned that Spacek was twenty-seven and married; her mother had simply gone into another room to read. The episode left Warhol reflecting on the need for better research, while showing how quickly assumptions about age and celebrity could shape an interview before the facts were checked.

Carrie and the Performance Persona

The following day, Warhol went with Jed Johnson to see Spacek in Carrie. He said he loved the film, singling out its use of slow motion as especially effective. His response gives the diary’s account a counterpoint to the previous day’s scrutiny of interviews, fans, and photographic performance: beyond the manufactured conditions of a magazine appearance, he was also watching Spacek as a screen actor and responding to the craft of the film. Later, at Madison Square Garden, he saw her in her dressing room with her girlfriend and noted that she addressed her band about pacing and performing for a teenage audience. Across these scenes, Spacek appears not as a settled portrait but as a performer adjusting her presentation to different settings and audiences.