Betty Buckley's fear in the Carrie prom scene was real

In the prom scene in Carrie, the actors' reactions were actually 100% real. Betty Buckley, who played Miss Collins, the nice gym teacher who had always looked out for Carrie, was genuinely terrified because the backboard that hits her had never been tested.

The Carrie backboard rig was never tested

There wasn't time to make sure the backboard would stop, so it was never tested. The mechanical rig used to drop the heavy backboard behind her had a safety mechanism consisting of a block of balsa wood, which was meant to keep it from crushing her.

Her anxiety was valid. Just days earlier, a stunt coordinator on set had been severely injured because of a different miscalculation involving one of the students.

Betty Buckley didn't know Miss Collins would die

I believe Miss Collins and the principal did survive in the book, but in the movie, they die. Betty Buckley didn't even know her character was going to die, because she thought she would survive just like in the book. So when she showed up on set that day, she was very surprised.

What do you think of the prom scene in Carrie?