SISSY SPACEK

The Carrie star and Coal Miner’s Daughter Oscar winner, 72, stars with J.K. Simmons, 67, in the sci-fi series Night Sky (May 20 on Prime Video). The two play Irene and Franklin York, who discover a hidden backyard chamber leading them into an adventure that spans space and time.

What can you tell us about the Yorks? They experienced an enormous tragedy 20 years earlier. At the same time, they discovered the chamber. Irene had been looking for meaning in her life. She’s driven by this need to understand why. She’s a woman who’s looking at the stars, at the universe, and contemplating how one thing might have impacted the other. She’s waiting for a sign.

In addition to being a sci-fi story, would you say Night Sky is a love story? The Yorks are so in love with one another. There were a lot of things that drew me to Night Sky, and that was a major thing—that it was about these two older people in the twilight of their lives and how an ordinary couple can be living in such extraordinary circumstances, but they still take their vitamins, eat their meals and go for rides. They have a simple life, and they want to keep it that way. I just adore Irene and Franklin.

Do you remember your first impression of Carrie?

I remember sending that script to my parents, and they didn’t know what to think. Sometimes there’s a little element of fear that’s involved with doing things, and that’s good; it rattles my cage a little bit. But the fact that I was playing a real human being, I never thought of her as a monster. I thought of her as a misunderstood, abused young person.

What is there left for you to accomplish? I want to continue to work on things that are meaningful to me, and I want to spend time with my family. I’ve always wanted to take time out for real life because I had such a precious childhood and family—certainly not without challenges, as every person has. But it made me understand how important living a real life is.