Perched at the top of the call sheet and embodying an iconic literary character, Alice Halsey is now a familiar face on Hollywood billboards—despite being only 11 years old.
Halsey steps into the role of Laura Ingalls in Netflix’s new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie, which premiered July 9. “There’s never really been a billboard of me before, so this is insane,” the preteen tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s mind-blowing.”
Although the Little House books were present in her home growing up, Halsey only read them after auditioning for Laura. “They’re so good,” she says. “I feel like Laura has this power to pull people in with all the details and the descriptions and everything. She definitely has a lot of power with her words.”
Preparing for the part, Halsey immersed herself in the material, repeatedly reading the script and consuming podcasts and literature about the late 19th-century setting. “I just wanted to get a sense of who the character was, how I would play her,” she notes. Her earnest focus belies her youth.
On set, costume and environment helped her inhabit the world of the prairie. Halsey recalls the experience with joy: “The prairie can be really wild. It feels like it’s all alive when the breeze goes through and everything moves. It’s really magical. But it’s also really unpredictable.”
That unpredictability surfaced during filming of the series’ opening scene—the first glimpse of her character wielding a slingshot.
Halsey as Laura Ingalls in episode 101 of ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ Eric Zachanowich/Netflix
“This warm wind came in—it’s called a Chinook wind and it comes in every year,” Halsey explains. “It hit us and tents were blowing and rows were flying away and everybody was freaking out. I was just cracking up because it was all the chaos. I just found it so funny.”
As the lead, Halsey acknowledges the pressure of heading the cast. “It’s definitely a big responsibility,” she says. Yet she praises the supportive atmosphere, noting that the crew’s wholehearted dedication fostered a familial bond.
“That definitely helped relieve some of the weight off of my shoulders,” she adds. “It’s pretty easy to act with all the people that I’m acting with. They are all such amazing actors and so good at their work.”
Halsey respects the enduring legacy of Little House on the Prairie. “It’s a story that’s been beloved to so many people over generations and generations. Part of it is because of Laura’s words and Laura’s tale, but also it’s relatable in every time,” she reflects. “No matter what year it is, no matter what’s going on at that time, there’s always something in Little House that’s a comfort and relatable to what you’re experiencing.”
The actress already brings several years of experience to the role. After a debut on Lessons in Chemistry alongside Brie Larson, she honed her craft on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, crediting that stint with shaping her into the performer she is today.
Halsey as Laura Ingalls in episode 104 of ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ Eric Zachanowich/Netflix
“There are so many amazing actors and actresses on that show that I was privileged enough to work with, and they’re all really experienced,” she says of the soap. Veteran cast members taught her to find her light and adapt to a brisk production pace. “There’s one take per scene. That’s all you get,” she explains. “On a regular show or movie, it’ll be like you have multiple takes, and you have to be really good on each one because you don’t know what the editor’s going to pick.”
She adds that her time on Days was transformative: “It was a great learning experience. Having a schedule that’s so fast-paced—you would shoot a couple episodes in one day—was very new to me. It kind of whipped me into shape.”
Next up, Halsey will appear with Viola Davis in Amazon MGM’s Ally Clark. “Acting with Viola is like stepping into another dimension. You look into her eyes and there’s a whole other world inside them. It’s almost surreal,” she says. “She’s also super funny and nice, and I love working with her.”