Mary Elizabeth Spacek had a glamorous childhood spent riding horses, swimming, playing in the woods, and climbing trees. Called Sissy by her brothers, the name stuck and would later become her stage name. However, before she began her acting career, Sissy Spacek was first a recording artist and in 1969, she released the song “John, You’ve Gone Too Far This Time” under the pseudonym of “Rainbo.” The song pokes fun at John Lennon for posing naked on the cover of his new album Two Virgins with his wife Yoko Ono, which shocked the world.

Sissy had hoped the track would be the start of her music career, but instead, it wasn’t very successful and became more of a novelty song than anything else. However, Sissy soon turned to acting after that and was eventually able to revive her musical dreams with her role as the singer Loretta Lynn in the 1980 biographical film, Coal Miner’s Daughter. Today, she has starred in many films, including one of her most iconic roles in the 1976 film adaptation of Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, in which audiences will never be able to unsee Spacek soaked in pig’s blood and reigning terror down on her high school. Currently starring alongside J.K. Simmons in the Prime Video series Night Sky, these are the best Sissy Spacek movies.

8 3 Women

Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall in 3 Women
20th Century Fox

3 Women is a 1977 experimental drama from director Robert Altman that follows the lives of three women: outgoing and self-absorbed Millie Lammoreaux (Shelley Duvall), awkward and timid Pinky Rose (Sissy Spacek), and quiet and distant Willie Hart (Janice Rule). Throughout the story, the identities of these three women shift, blur, and merge together which begs the questions, how much are we influenced by each other? But that’s just one interpretation of this slow-burn film which gives little away and wants you to draw your own conclusions.

7 The River

Sissy Spacek and Mel Gibson in The River
Universal Pictures

Tennessee farming couple Tom (Mel Gibson) and Mae Garvey (Sissy Spacek) will do anything they can to preserve their land from flooding and keeping it from the clutches of a greedy land developer who threatens foreclosure. Sadly, The River was a box office flop and failed to gross over its budget. Met with mixed reviews, critics criticized the screenplay, Gibson’s performance, and the overall execution of the film. However, critics praised the cinematography and Spacek’s performance and rewarded her with an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

Related: Amazon's Night Sky: Plot, Cast, and Everything Else We Know

6 Missing

Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon in Missing
Universal Pictures

In Missing, Ed Horman (Jack Lemmon) arrives in Chile in 1973 with the hopes of finding his son, Charles (John Shea), who worked as a journalist before his disappearance. Charles’s wife, Beth (Sissy Spacek), has already been searching for him with the help of the American Embassy. However, Ed soon discovers that the U.S. Embassy has not been especially helpful, and he suspects them of withholding information about his son. Missing is based on the disappearance of real-life American journalist Charles Horman and the events of the United States-backed Chilean coup of 1973 and was met with critical acclaim both for the film and for Spacek’s performance as a distraught wife and mother searching for answers.

5 Crimes of the Heart

The cast of Crimes of the Heart
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group

This dark, wacky, screwball Southern comedy tells the tale of the three Magrath sisters, Lenny (Diane Keaton), Meg (Jessica Lange), and Babe (Sissy Spacek) as they navigate love, loss, and relationships, all while living their perfectly normal dysfunctional lives. Scarred from the tragic suicidal hanging of their mother and the family cat, the three sisters have an unbreakable bond and are reunited when one of them is pushed to the brink by desperation. Crimes of the Heart’s success is largely due to the undeniable chemistry between its three leading ladies, Keaton, Lange, and Spacek, with Spacek giving another memorable and Oscar-nominated performance.

4 Badlands

Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek in Badlands
Warner Bros.

Sissy Spacek takes on the role of 15-year-old teenager Holly Sargis, who begins a relationship with 25-year-old Kit Carruthers (Martin Sheen in his first big role). Their relationship displeases Holly’s father, who she already had a strained relationship with after her mother died from pneumonia years ago. Naturally, the pair continue their love affair and Kit rids Holly of her father by shooting him. After the couple fakes suicide, they go on the run and commit a series of other murders in this dreamy, sad, naturalistic road movie from director Terence Malick. While this story is fictional, it’s loosely based on the real-life story of killers Charles Starkweather and Caril-Ann Fugate and has a Bonnie and Clyde feel to it. Spacek gives a multilayered performance as a seemingly insightful but naïve young girl who is easily influenced by Kit’s charms.

3 In the Bedroom

Sissy Spacek In The Bedroom
Miramax Films

In the Bedroom tells the heartbreaking story of a couple, Matt (Tom Wilkinson) and Ruth Fowler (Sissy Spacek), and their son Frank, who becomes involved with a divorced older woman and is killed by her abusive ex-husband. Following the death of Frank, Matt and Ruth’s relationship becomes severely strained, and the two grow apart. This emotionally draining drama features a strong and gut-wrenching performance from Spacek as she portrays a heartbroken mother riddled with grief and pain which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Related: Carrie Behind-the-Scenes Featurette

2 Carrie

Sissy Spacek in Carrie.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
United Artists

What happens when a high school girl with telekinetic abilities is ruthlessly bullied beyond her breaking point? The result is one of the most horrifying prom scenes in the history of horror films. In this 1976 adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name, Sissy Spacek plays Carrie White, a shy, 16-year-old girl who lives with her unstable and fanatically religious mother Margaret (Piper Laurie). Spacek gives a truly chilling performance of a girl who just wants to feel love and accepted but is quick to inflict pain on others when she feels rejected by them. Carrie brought Spacek worldwide fame and earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

1 Coal Miner’s Daughter

Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter
Universal Pictures

Coal Miner’s Daughter is a 1980 biographical musical film starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn, one of the most influential country music stars. Married at 15, Loretta became a mother of four children when she was just 19 years old. She was a housewife and mother for 15 years before she went on to become a superstar entertainer. Sissy Spacek gives a realistic and spot-on performance of the beloved country icon. Performing her own vocals to Loretta’s tracks, her voice is just as charming and alluring as the famous singer’s. For her work in Coal Miner’s Daughter, Spacek earned herself an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.