Of all the monsters lurking in the popular imagination, few inspire quite the same dread as a mean high school girl. In Mike Flanagan’s TV adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie, Josie Totah takes on just that. Playing Tina Blake, she’s not exactly the ringleader of Carrie White’s torment, but rather a vicious, approval-hungry sidekick. But one thing about Totah is she just happens to look really good while behaving terribly. The internet, it seems, has a soft spot for a pretty villain. After the announcement that the show was getting renewed for a second season, we figured it was time to find out how Totah maintains that indelible mean girl glow. For this installment of Face Card, she walks us through her surprisingly minimal beauty routine. Spoiler: She’s a simple face wash and moisturizer kind of girl. No Botox or filler to be found, and she swears by a single Rare Beauty lip liner. At the same time, she’s also not ruling out a little surgical intervention by 50. In conversation, she talks about learning to love her flaws, bullying in the age of social media, and her favorite horror movies.
MONDAY 3.30 PM OCTOBER 19, 2026 L.A.
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EMILY SANDSTROM: I don’t want to get stuck on the child star thing for too long, but you have been working since you were a kid. Do you feel like a typical child star?
JOSIE TOTAH:I don’t think I was ever that big as a kid, or now. I always went to normal school and I didn’t have that much of a crazy childhood. But it definitely was a weird experience, especially because when I went to Disney, it was pre-Instagram. You were very known, even if you had a really small role. People would come up to me every day. I just don’t think that the world works that way anymore because of streaming.
SANDSTROM: And you’re directing now, do you want to talk about that a little bit?
TOTAH: Well, I’ve always written, and I wrote and directed something that I’m going to be annoyingly coy about. But it’s more so that I want to introduce it when I am ready to introduce it, which I don’t think will be too far in the future. It’s a short film, and my best friend is in it with me. It’s the most personal thing that I’ve ever done, which is really nice and cool because I don’t usually open up in that way.
SANDSTROM: I love that. Let’s talk about Stephen King. Did the books really influence you growing up?
TOTAH: Misery is a family movie for my family.
SANDSTROM: Nice. It really is like a Hallmark moment when she smashes his ankles in.
TOTAH: We watch it every Christmas. We love James Caan and Kathy Bates, and sometimes my mom reminds me of her. And Stand by Me was also my favorite movie as a kid. I had a really big crush on River Phoenix.
SANDSTROM: How did you feel when you found out about Carrie?
TOTAH: I was like, “This is awesome.” And to get to be a part of a Stephen King adaptation is such an honor. And Mike Flanagan, I just couldn’t have imagined how amazing of a person he would be. But to have the opportunity to work with someone as esteemed as that was so exciting.
SANDSTROM: That’s awesome. Talking about the show itself really quickly, I happen to think teenage girls are the scariest members of the population. I’m wondering if playing Tina brought back any weird memories from your adolescence.
TOTAH: Oh my god. Like you said, teenagers can be so cruel. People were mean to me when I was a teenager, and I was definitely mean back. You’re a kid being thrown into this world that is really messed up, and you’re forced to navigate the politics of high school and stuff. You have no idea who you are and you’ll do whatever it takes. I had a weird experience, because I went to Catholic high school, but then I was also on TV.
SANDSTROM: That is weird.
TOTAH: I wasn’t bullied because I think they were like, “Okay, she’s in this show.” That gave me a cachet that allowed me to survive. It would have been very easy to bully me because I was such a dweebish, skinny, little bitch. I definitely was protected by people caring about social status, because if I didn’t have that, I’m sure people would have ruined my life.
SANDSTROM: Cool claim to fame. Thinking a lot about teens now, and social media, and their phones, I always feel like I could never have survived it.
TOTAH: I know, it’s crazy. I remember it was my 10-and-a-half-birthday party, and I was with Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus—I’m going to name drop. We were at my birthday party in the pool, and my sister came up to me, and she goes, “Did you guys get Instagram?” She was like, “Everyone’s getting Instagram.” That was the first time I had ever heard of it. But when I was really little, it was used for good. Then, it obviously got dark and terrifying, and then so goes the social reckoning, et cetera.
SANDSTROM: Yeah, there was a period of purity.
TOTAH: But unfortunately, unlike Mikey Madison, I do have a relationship with social media, and it’s not healthy.
SANDSTROM: Yeah, you’re a poster, right?
TOTAH: The fact that you called me that—I’m offended to my soul. You’re not wrong to say that, but I’m embarrassed and ashamed. I’m a poster.
SANDSTROM: Well, the kids love you. They’re always reposting your pictures. This is how I know that.
TOTAH: I feel like I convinced myself that I learn on social media. I’ll go down a TikTok rabbit hole of “Wall Street in 1989,” and I’ll feel like I come out of that better.
SANDSTROM: I feel like if you read at least one book a month, that offsets the situation.
TOTAH: Exactly.
SANDSTROM: What are you dressing up as for Halloween this year?
TOTAH: I have no idea. I’m probably just going to be a girl in a wig. I try to do something very specific. Last year, my friend was Hillary Clinton in a middle-class kitchen. Do you know that meme?
SANDSTROM: I do.
TOTAH: And I was Rihanna in a pink wig at a basketball game.
SANDSTROM: Nice, okay.
TOTAH: Of course, I wanted to be Elizabeth Holmes, but now it just feels like—
SANDSTROM: Everyone’s going to do it.
TOTAH: Everyone’s going to do it.
SANDSTROM: What’s your favorite horror movie?
TOTAH: Let the Right One In. Have you seen that movie?
SANDSTROM: I have seen that movie.
TOTAH: It’s such a beautiful film. It hits every part of my soul. It’s also terrifying and amazing, and it feels like a movie that you might’ve dreamt. And Titane.
SANDSTROM: Oh, I haven’t seen this.
TOTAH: Deranged, you have to see it. It’s the same director as the movie Raw. Have you seen Raw?
SANDSTROM: No.
TOTAH: Oh my god, you have to watch it. And the number one movie I put on if I’m having a sleepover is the French film Revenge. It’s the same director as The Substance.
SANDSTROM: I will! Let’s jump into the beauty stuff. Talk me through your skincare routine.
TOTAH: The thing is, everyone always says like, “My grandmother taught me to wear SPF.” But I have a mother who believes that because we’re Middle Eastern, we don’t have to wear SPF because our ancestors are used to being in the sun.
SANDSTROM: Yeah.
TOTAH: I have no idea, but I haven’t taken that risk. Doing the show The Buccaneers with the girls has made me get my shit together so much because they all really care about skincare. But I didn’t grow up using skincare. To this day, I just use moisturizer, face wash, and SPF. That is my tea. I’m not doing anything extra. The fact that I’m even putting on an SPF every day is doing a lot of work.
SANDSTROM: Your skin’s great. Did you do Accutane or something growing up?
TOTAH: No. I think it’s genetic? I don’t know.
SANDSTROM: You’re going to get Sydney Sweeney headlined. “I have good genes.”
TOTAH: No, my god.
SANDSTROM: I’m kidding.
TOTAH: I do have a big brown spot on my head though, which my friend Aubrey [Ibrag], who plays my sister, describes as melasma. She’s recommended a few lasers, and I’m not against them, but I haven’t done any. But anyway, I use SPF, the Youth to the People moisturizer and face wash.
SANDSTROM: Nice, I use that face wash too.
TOTAH: Then, the next thing that I use is the Chanel glow serum that I just mix in with my SPF.
SANDSTROM: Got it.
TOTAH: Then just a lip liner.
SANDSTROM: What’s the lip liner?
TOTAH: Rare Beauty. It’s so good, it lasts all day. I think it’s the shade Gifted. I will rebuy it. I’m known for not buying things, because the idea of owning a lot of stuff gives me anxiety. If I run out of something, I won’t rebuy it and people make fun of me all the time. I’ll just go weeks without a moisturizer.
SANDSTROM: Oh, wow.
TOTAH: The idea of spending money and ordering feels like too much.
SANDSTROM: Okay. So you’re anti over-consumption?
TOTAH: No. I will pay a lot of money for a nice dinner. But the idea of owning another thing gives me insane anxiety.
SANDSTROM: Nice. I’m laughing because my coworker calls me “over-consumption final boss.”
TOTAH: But I love girls like you. All my best friends are like that, and I steal all their shit.
SANDSTROM: My house is a junkyard, it’s disgusting.
TOTAH: I love that. I’m just very nomadic in that I’m never really in one place. So it’s like, if I have a bunch of shit, it’s going to be lost. You know?
SANDSTROM: I like that philosophy of having less.
TOTAH: That’s my vibe. So I do that and then Charlotte Tilbury Glow [Foundation Stick]. So we’re doubling the glow, because we’ve got the Chanel on, now we’re doing Charlotte Tilbury.
SANDSTROM: And that’s going in the foundation?
TOTAH: I use that as foundation.
SANDSTROM: Oh, got it.
TOTAH: Then I will do Charlotte Tilbury contour with glow. It’s just a lot of glow. It’s like a glow contour. Have you seen that before?
SANDSTROM: Yeah, it’s like the wand thing?
TOTAH: No, it’s a stick.
SANDSTROM: Oh, I know what you’re talking about.
TOTAH: Then, Charlotte Tilbury under-eye primer because I have really dark circles. That is a gene thing. Then I put concealer on top of that because that’s how dark my under-eyes are, and that’s Giorgio Armani concealer.
SANDSTROM: Okay.
TOTAH: If a pilgrim heard us speaking about this right now…
SANDSTROM: I know. Paris is burning, and we’re like, “Lip gloss.”
TOTAH: Literally. Anyway, then I curl my lashes. Then I’ll do just a little bit of liner with the shadow, but not a wing.
SANDSTROM: Which products?
TOTAH: The mascara is drugstore Maybelline, and the eyeshadow is M.A.C.
SANDSTROM: Cool, got it.
TOTAH: Then I just use a little bit of bronzer from Hourglass. And over that I use Les Beiges Healthy Glow Bronzing Cream by Chanel.
SANDSTROM: Oh, that cream pot thing?
TOTAH: Yes. And Aubrey introduced me to a Dior setting spray. They make two of them, and this is the one in the clear bottle. It sprays on your face and it makes you glow even more.
SANDSTROM: It’s holding everything in place?
TOTAH: It’s holding everything in place. It’s keeping it glowy, if I didn’t already have enough on.
SANDSTROM: Talk me through treatments—facials, lymphatic drainage, the lasers, peptides, that type of stuff.
TOTAH: I’m genuinely so boring. I’ve been told salmon sperm is what I will be doing in five years. I’m already mentally preparing because I heard that’s really good for you. I’ve never had any Botox or filler.
SANDSTROM: Amazing. Congratulations.
TOTAH: Thank you, queen. I’m 25.
SANDSTROM: No, there’s plenty of time.
TOTAH: That being said, come the future, who knows. I’m really into the idea of being cut up when I’m 50.
SANDSTROM: Really?
TOTAH: I want someone to stomp on my ear and pull my head back. But my mom says to me every day, “Please don’t do that because everyone looks the same.” She was like, “I need you to not look like everyone else.” But I’m just going to make sure I get a custom version.
SANDSTROM: They will have custom versions eventually. As a poster, what do you think about Instagram Face? Everyone looks the same now.
TOTAH: Everyone does look the same. I think we, in general, just need to be nicer and kinder to women because it’s such a fucked up world that we live in. But because I’m on a period drama, sometimes they put too much makeup on our faces and we’re like, “Wait, let’s take it back a little bit because we don’t want to be too duck-facey or whatever.” Because then you’re less believable.
SANDSTROM: Yeah, anachronistic face.
TOTAH: That’s a fear of mine.
SANDSTROM: What is something about your appearance that you have grown to love, or has taken a while to accept that you feel comfortable with now?
TOTAH: I think the fact that I’m Middle Eastern and our features aren’t Eurocentric in terms of my nose and dark circles. And even though I described that I use 18 million products under my eyes, sometimes when I do see that in a photo, I’m like, “Work, I love that.” I grew up with a mom that was like, “You have to fucking love yourself because no one else is going to.” But every day, I’m like, “Is that how I look?” You know what I mean? I have to re-teach myself that. I don’t want to take my culture away from me. That’s where I came from, and that’s who I am. But in 20 years, who knows.
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