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Charlie McGee is the main protagonist of the 1980 Stephen King novel Firestarter and its 1984 film adaptation, as well as in the 2022 remake. She is also the main protagonist in the 2002 two-part TV-miniseries Firestarter 2: Rekindled. She is a very powerful girl with pyrokinetic powers, which enable her to cast and control fire.
In the 1984 movie, she was portrayed by Drew Barrymore, who also portrayed Gertie in E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Danielle de Barbarac in Ever After: A Cinderella Story, Olive in Olive, the Other Reindeer, Akima Kunimoto in Titan A.E., Dylan Sanders in the 2000-2003 Charlie's Angels duology, Jillian Russell-Wilcox in Family Guy, and Maggie Dunlop in Curious George (2006).
In the 2002 television miniseries and the sequel to the 1984 film adaptation Firestarter: Rekindled, Skye McCole Bartusiak played the young child Charlie and Marguerite Moreau played the 20-year-old adult Charlie.
In the 2022 remake, she is portrayed by Ryan Kiera Armstrong.
Biography[]
Charlene Roberta "Charlie" McGee was born to Andrew "Andy" McGee and Victoria "Vicky" Tomlinson with her abilities created due to her parents having participated in a mysterious government-funded experiment during college, in which most died. Both parents had been injected with unknown amounts of a drug known as Lot Six, which, among other things, had been proven to alter the subject's chromosomes and pituitary gland, a gland that is capable to create psychic abilities. During the experiment they found out, that they were in love with each other, which lead to their marriage and to the birth of Charlie.
Charlie was born with pyrokinesis, but she also had powers that she inherited from her parents like mental domination, telepathy, telekinesis and precognition. All of her powers were connected with her power to start fires. She sometimes had a hard time controlling her abilities, especially when she was upset or angry. Also, as she got older it did seem like her powers were growing, while, with the guidance of her parents, she was also getting better control. It is later stated that, when Charlie grows older, she may be able to cause nuclear explosions by the sheer force of will, even powerful enough to crack the whole planet in two.
The Shop, responsible for the experiment, realizing how strong she was, killed her mother in an attempt to kidnap her, which Andrew was able to stop at the last moment. They wanted her in their grasp, because they wanted to create more like her as weaponry at the service of the United States.
Since then she has been fleeing from the government with her father killing government agents, if necessary, in order to remain free and protect her father. This continued until she was caught by them, together with her father.
The government manipulated her into making tests with her powers. They intended to kill her once they were finished with those tests, because, in their eyes, she was too powerful and therefore not suitable for their intentions. Her father is killed in an attempt to free her. At his behest, before dying, she embraces her powers and destroys The Shop in order to save her life and stop their experiments and crimes surrounding it.
She later intends to expose everything in the press.