A NEW LAURA INGALLS IS READY TO WIN HEARTS IN LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. K2 🌾

More than 90 years after Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie first introduced readers to the spirited young Laura Ingalls — and more than 50 years after the beloved television adaptation became a family favorite — the iconic story is beginning a new chapter. Netflix’s adaptation returns to Wilder’s original novels, reimagining the frontier classics for a fresh generation while preserving the curiosity, resilience, and sense of adventure that have made Laura an enduring American hero.

At the center of that new chapter is Alice Halsey, the 11-year-old actor entrusted with bringing Laura to life. Showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine says the young actor possesses the same qualities that made Laura herself unforgettable. “She just had such a deep soul,” Sonnenshine tells Netflix. “There’s a boldness about her, a forthrightness, a natural curiosity that really captures who Laura was.” Laura, she adds, “took everything in around her, internalized it, and then created these stories that live forever. That requires a special kind of person.”

From the set of the recently announced Season 2, Halsey spoke with Tudum about what drew her to the role, how she prepared to portray one of literature’s most recognizable characters, and what we can expect from the series going forward. She also shares behind-the-scenes stories about belting Taylor Swift between takes, laughing through muddy mishaps with her onscreen sister Skywalker Hughes, and why she’d happily spend a lifetime with the real Laura Ingalls Wilder. Read on and stream Season 1 of Little House on the Prairie, exclusively on Netflix.

What was your relationship to Little House on the Prairie before you were cast? 

Alice Halsey: We had the books in my house, but I hadn’t really read them. When I got the audition, I read the entire series front to back, just to get a feel of who Laura was. I did a lot of research, and I think it paid off. Laura is definitely a pretty complicated character. She’s really kind. She’s always standing up for what she thinks is right, no matter what other people think, no matter what the rules are. I don’t think she really cares about the rules. It’s not that she’s rebelling against them, saying that they shouldn’t exist. She just doesn’t conform to them. I think that part of her wants to fit in with how girls and women were meant to behave, but the other part of her kind of has to be herself. It’s a constant push and pull.

What was something surprising about Laura you uncovered in your research? 

Halsey: Her favorite color was green, which I think shows how connected Laura was to nature. She really did love nature. When I got to be out on the prairie to shoot Little House, you can really see why she wanted to live on the prairie for her whole life. The prairie is really magical. It’s a wild place. It seems like everything is alive, especially when the breeze comes through and moves everything. It’s beautiful. I love the skies. Laura actually talks about the skies a lot in her books. I think it’s just really special to be able to see the prairie like Laura did.

What’s a funny memory you have from shooting Season 1?

Halsey: I have a lot of anecdotes. I remember there was one time when we had to get water from the creek — me and Skywalker — and the ground was really slippery that day because it had rained. We had our buckets, and then we had to walk up a hill and then that’d be it. They would say “cut” — pretty easy scene. We started going up the hill, and, on the first take, Skywalker tripped and fell on the slippery grass. I was cracking up. Next take? I fell. Then Sky laughed at me. Next take, we both fell. It was really funny.

Tell me about all the 19th-century costumes.

Halsey: I love the costumes. They’re so cool. They’re 100% authentic. Those were the layers that they would’ve worn back then. They’re gorgeous. Mitchell Travers, our costume designer for the show, is so creative and so committed. He put hours and hours of research into figuring out exactly what they would’ve worn and what it said about them. It’s fascinating. Being able to wear those clothes every day is an honor in itself. I remember putting on Laura’s clothes for the first time and feeling like, “This is who Laura is.” I’d already done a lot of stuff to figure out how I would be portraying this character, but the costume just pulled everything together. I feel like Laura the most when I’m in costume out on the prairie.

What are you excited to explore in Season 2?

Halsey: I love exploring Laura’s growth — her arc over Season 1 and her arc over Season 2. I think that, with every moment, she’s remembering it for the books that she’s going to write — that’s part of how she grows. I think for Season 2, her arc is going to be about figuring out who she wants to be. Not just things like what kind of house she’s going to own or how many kids she’s going to have, but does she want to be honest? Does she want to be kind? Does she want to be brave? Does she want to conform to the rules, or does she still want to be herself? I think that she’s going to try to figure all of those things out in the upcoming season.

Season 2 brings Laura face-to-face with the character book fans have been waiting for: Nellie Oleson (Willa Dunn). What can you tease about their meeting?

Halsey: Laura and Nellie are going to have an interesting relationship that I think everybody’s going to enjoy thoroughly. Y’all better be excited because there’s going to be a whole lot of excitement on the prairie — that’s all I’m going to say.

When you were on set, what did you and your Ingalls family castmates — Crosby Fitzgerald as Ma, Luke Bracey as Pa, and Skywalker Hughes as your sister, Mary — do in between scenes for Season 1? Listen to music? 

Halsey: We were not just listening to music, we were singing it. Not singing — we were belting. We were screaming Taylor Swift in between takes, off set, on set, all the time. We would play ukulele in the trailer. I think music is part of what made us Ingalls connect to each other as a cast — and create the bond that we have. Me and Crosby and Skywalker all immediately clicked over our love of Taylor Swift. When we learned that Luke was not really familiar with Taylor, we whipped him into shape, basically forcing him to listen to tons of Taylor Swift songs over and over again. But you know what? Now he’s sort of a Swiftie, and all’s well that ends well.

Do you have a favorite Taylor Swift song?

Halsey: I have a favorite album, which is Reputation. My favorite Taylor Swift song is always shifting and changing with the times. At the moment, it’s “Castles Crumbling” from Speak Now. But listen, all of her songs speak to me.

What was it like to form a bond with Skywalker Hughes, who plays your sister?

Halsey: Skywalker and I are like sisters. We hang out all the time. We laugh together, we joke together, we write together, we sing together. We do basically everything together. We’ll do handshakes in between takes and off set all the time. You could say that’s kind of like our tradition. We’ll do Miss Mary Mack, Do-Re-Mi. You name it. It’s like our thing. But our biggest thing is singing together. Not just Taylor Swift — we’ll sing country, we’ll sing rock. Skywalker will have a “song of the day” that she’ll just repeat over and over throughout the day — and at the end of the day, you’ll find me singing it with her too.

I remember when we first met, it was in the studio, and I was nervous. She sprinted up to me and gave me a bear hug — (a), I’m suffocating, but (b), I’m like, “OK, so this is my sister. Everything’s going to go great.” I think since then we’ve just been the best of friends.

The goodbye between Laura and Good Eagle (Wren Zhawenim Gotts), her friend from an Osage family, is one of the most emotional scenes in the Season 1 finale. What was it like to shoot?

Halsey: Laura and Good Eagle bond over their similarities. They both love nature, they both love crafts, they both love running around. Laura and Good Eagle are just kind of made to be best friends. I think that they appreciate each other a lot. They teach each other things — like how Good Eagle taught Laura how to read and how to bead — and I think that Laura’s really grateful for Good Eagle.

In that last goodbye scene, Laura is being torn apart by the fact that she might not see her friend again. But it’s also a really hopeful scene because it shows that even though they might never see each other in person again, Good Eagle still made such an impact on Laura. Because remember: Good Eagle taught Laura how to read. It’s really important because Laura is going to grow up, and she’s going to write a series of books — and if it weren’t for a Good Eagle, she might’ve never done that.

If you could spend a day with the real Laura Ingalls Wilder, what would you ask her? 

Halsey: If I could live with her. [laughs] No, I’m kidding. I would probably ask, “How has her life shaped her? How have all the events in her life made her the person that she is today, made her the storyteller that she is today?” She really did have an insane life, and she didn’t say all of it in the books. She has this quote: “I told the truth, but not the whole truth.” So my question would be, “What was the whole truth?”

Is there a particular facet of Laura’s personality you wanted to convey onscreen? 

Halsey: Laura cares about making the world the way she thinks is right, the way she thinks would be fair for everyone. In real life, that was true too. This woman went through so much. Her house burned down, and yet she still kept on building houses. Her life would’ve traumatized anybody else, but not her. She kept going. She kept living her life the way she wanted to. She still kept on farming, kept on learning, kept on writing books.

I’m so honored. It’s such a privilege that I get to be able to play this woman because she’s such an icon. She’s an icon for a reason, because she’s inspiring. She’s one of the most hardworking women I’ve ever heard of. She wrote books that have touched people and been beloved for generations and generations. She has a power with her words, and she has a power with the way that she carries herself and what she does. I hope that I bring that to the screen.

You can watch Halsey bring Laura Ingalls to life in all eight episodes of Little House on the Prairie Season 1, now streaming on Netflix.