NEED TO KNOW
Alice Halsey stars as Laura Ingalls in Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie reboot, which arrived on Thursday, July 9
The 11-year-old actress says she felt pressure to honor Laura’s legacy but embraced the character’s complexity
Halsey bonded closely with her castmates, calling her on-screen sister and parents a supportive team
Alice Halsey knows Laura Ingalls Wilder is iconic.
The 11-year-old actress, who had a breakout role in Apple TV’s Lessons in Chemistry, spoke with PEOPLE ahead of the premiere of Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie. Not unlike Laura, she loves being outdoors and enjoys “drawing, jump-roping … walking, running,” as well as singing and playing the piano. But the young star’s first passion is acting, so the gravity of taking on the role of Laura, the imaginative and adventurous frontier girl generations have fallen in love with thanks to the real Wilder’s book series and Melissa Gilbert‘s portrayal of the character in NBC’s 1970s TV show, is not lost on her.
“I think it’s a huge privilege to be able to play this amazing character,” Halsey shares. “She’s been an icon across generations and I feel so honored that I get to play this character and be shown on-screen as Laura Ingalls.”
She adds, “I think my favorite part might have been being able to just figure out who she is because she definitely has a lot of sides to her.”
Alice Halsey and Skywalker Hughes on ‘Little House on the Prairie’Credit: Eric Zachanowich/Netflix
She admits she does feel some “pressure” to get the role just right, though.
“I felt a lot of responsibility to Laura and the writers and [showrunner] Rebecca [Sonnenshine] to do it right. I knew that I had to honor her legacy and her story because she really was an amazing woman, a storyteller, a writer and a hard worker,” Halsey says. “So I felt a lot of pressure, but I think I was surrounded by amazing castmates and I’m just so glad that I could do it with them.”
In season 1, viewers see Laura being deeply empathetic and curious as she makes friends with members of the Osage tribe, including Good Eagle (Wren Zhawenim Gotts), a young girl around Laura’s age who lives near the Ingalls’ homestead. But she’s also plagued with self-doubt at times and envious of her older sister Mary’s (Skywalker Hughes) ease in social situations, including a particularly memorable tea party.
Alice Halsey on ‘Little House on the Prairie’Credit: Eric Zachanowich/Netflix
Halsey loves the challenge of playing a character with so many layers. “She is a complicated character. She is brave and she’s strong and she definitely is a little bit impulsive and a little bit self-conscious,” she says. “I think that she feels like she has to prove herself to everybody that she cares about that she is able, she’s capable of providing for them and protecting them.”
Laura also “really, really wants friends,” but Halsey points out that she “doesn’t really fit in” beyond the prairie. She would often rather be out hunting with her Pa (Luke Bracey) than doing her schoolwork or visiting the town of Independence with her Ma (Crosby Fitzgerald) and Mary.
As Halsey shares, Laura “needs to be who she is and who she is isn’t fitting in.” She adds, “So it’s this constant push and pull.”
Skywalker Hughes and Alice Halsey on ‘Little House on the Prairie’Credit: Eric Zachanowich/Netflix
For Halsey, being surrounded by such a supportive group of actors has made donning Laura’s pigtails much easier. The Days of Our Lives alum gives 14-year-old Hughes a special shout-out, adding that they’re “like real sisters.”
“No, we are real sisters, not by blood, but still,” she says. “Right when we met each other, we clicked immediately. It was like we saw each other and we were just like, ‘Yeah, so that’s my sister.’ I remember on my first day on set, I was so nervous. First day on a big job and I remember I walked into the tutoring room and Skywalker just runs up to me and gives me the biggest hug and I felt so welcomed.”
Her TV Ma and Pa have been equally welcoming. “They’re the best ma and pa I could have ever asked for,” she says of Fitzgerald and Bracey. “Crosby is so funny … even the most random moments, she can make us laugh. It’s just so easy to connect with her and act. It just flows.”
Meanwhile, she describes Bracey as “a calming presence on set.”
Halsey shares, “You can just focus and tap into him when things are getting chaotic. And he’s also an amazing actor. You can just listen to him and just follow what he’s doing and look into his eyes and just feel.”
Skywalker Hughes, Crosby Fitzgerald, Alice Halsey and Luke Bracey on ‘Little House on the Prairie’
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Ultimately, Halsey is just excited for Little House fans to go on this journey with her and her castmates as they introduce the Ingalls family to a whole new generation.
“Little House, I think, is a story about growth and hope and family and community,” she says. “And it really is just… I think that I just hope that everybody enjoys it as much as I love making it. I think that the Little House stories are really beloved to so many people and I hope that they’ll love our show too.”
Little House on the Prairie season 1 is now on Netflix.
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