Before P. J. Soles was Lynda, aka the girl who says “Totally!” a lot in John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” she played Norma in Brian De Palma’s “Carrie.” Norma, who, like a modern-day MAGA nut is recognized by her red baseball hat, is one of the mean girls who makes Carrie’s life hell. All of the bullies who torment Carrie get their violent comeuppance during the film’s grand finale, where Carrie unleashes her full powers at the prom. Carrie pulls out all the stops, using her mind powers to smash, stomp, burn, and blast everyone who dared laugh at her, including Norma, who is dispatched by being sprayed with an out-of-control firehose. 

To create the memorable moment, Soles was really sprayed with a real firehose. And if you’ve ever seen a firehose at work, you know those suckers are powerful. This isn’t the trickle of a hose in your garden, it’s a full-force blast. While speaking with Chiller Theatre Magazine (via Cult Oddities), Soles revealed that the force of the hose was so powerful that it resulted in injury. “They had a firehose that kind of ‘extinguished’ me, and the fireman that was manning it wouldn’t do it because he said it was too powerful,” Soles said, adding: 

“The stunt coordinator did it, and he was just whacking that thing around. In fact, it went in my ear and broke my eardrum, which was weird, because I fainted right away. They used that in the movie, and that’s actually real. I lost my equilibrium, and I just fell over! They thought I was acting, but when it was over and they saw I wasn’t getting up, I was like, ‘God, my ear is killing me! What happened?’ They took me right away to the doctor. He asked how I did it, and I said, ‘With a firehose!'”

Thankfully Soles wasn’t further injured by the stunt, and now the moment has been immortalized forever in the film.