In the terrifying movie The Exorcist, Linda Blair, who was just 13 years old, frightened audiences with her convincing portrayal of the demon-possessed Regan MacNeil. After her award-winning performance left Blair reeling from the controversy, she vanished from the public eye.
In addition to its theological topic that shocked the church, The Exorcist’s horrific plot, which was highlighted by terrifying demonic images, also disturbed the cast and crew, who suffered from illness and death in spite of a Jesuit priest’s blessing.
The Exorcist is a cinematic version of William Peter Blatty’s best-selling novel of the same name, which was based on a 1949 real-life exorcism and was directed by William Friedkin.
The Exorcist, a 1973 horror film, centers on 12-year-old Regan MacNeil, whose atypically aggressive and unpredictable conduct raises questions.
When medical treatment is unsuccessful, her mother (played by Ellen Burnstyn) turns to Father Damien Karras (played by Jason Miller), a Jesuit priest who attests to Regan’s demeanor as being possessed by a malevolent spirit. Karras begs the Catholic Church to conduct an exorcism in order to release Regan from the demons’ clutches.
Notwithstanding its contentious nature, The Exorcist was a box office success and won four Golden Globes, an Oscar for Best Sound, and a Screenplay. The supernatural horror still ranks as the second highest-grossing R-rated horror movie of all time.
It was Blair’s first significant film role, and her terrifying performance made her a household name. Blair began her career as a child model and had appearances in TV and print advertisements. By the time she was five years old, she had credits in Ivory Soap, Welch’s Grape Jelly, and Carefree Gum.
Blair contemplated quitting acting as a young adolescent to work with animals.
However, it was impossible to resist the allure of playing the lead in The Exorcist.
During the audition process, Friedkin quickly recognized the newcomer as the ideal candidate and chose her to play Regan out of thousands of applicants.
Blair was expected to execute physically hard, uncomfortable, and frequently dangerous jobs, despite the fact that it was her first significant part.
People were forced to perform difficult roles in films shot in the 1970s, when special effects weren’t driven by technology, making them susceptible to disease and injury.
In the exorcism scene, a stuntman actually threw himself down the 97 steps that are depicted at the climax of the movie, as a possessed Father Karras falls down the notoriously steep steps to his death.
The straps that held Blair to the bed, where she was thrashed, dug into her back, but she didn’t have to throw herself down any stairs. Her bedroom, which was built on wheels so the room actually shook, was kept at a temperature of thirty degrees below zero so the cameras could detect the cloud of ice when an actor breathed.
Blair wore only a nightgown, but the rest of the team was adequately attired.
Everyone on the set felt the difficulties.
There was a long list of production-related disasters and deaths, and the set of The Exorcist appeared to be cursed.
“There was definitely a feeling it (something bad) could happen,” according to special effects pioneer Marcel Vercoutere, who made Blair’s head spin, in the book “The Fear of God: 25 Years of the Exorcist.” I had the impression that I was tinkering with something that I shouldn’t have.
The entire set where Regan’s exorcism was supposed to occur was destroyed by fire after a bird flew into a lightbox, causing one of the most strange episodes. While the set was being rebuilt, production was put on hold for six weeks.
Friedkin asked Thomas Bermingham, a Jesuit priest who helped Blatty write his book, to exorcise the set the day before the fire. He blessed the whole actors and crew, stating that there was insufficient proof to perform a true exorcism.
Tragic events still plagued production. Jack MacGowran, who portrayed Burke Dennings, Regan’s first victim in the movie, passed away from influenza. The actress who portrayed Father Karras’ mother, Vasiliki Maliaros, also passed away prior to the film’s premiere. The death of both of their characters in The Exorcist is what’s most unsettling.
Blair, whose grandfather passed away during production, was among the other performers who lost family.
Nine production-related individuals lost their lives while the movie was being made.
Blair was unfazed by the enigmatic circumstances surrounding the film’s production because he was too young to completely comprehend the concept’s sensitivity and intricacy.
“The Exorcist was a work of fiction,” she clarified. At the time, I was unaware that it dealt with any real-world issues.
Although Blair saw the concept as fanciful, other viewers found the theological overtones to be extremely real, and Blair was singled out by some who blamed the movie for their religious crises.
She was even threatened with murder and accused of promoting Satan by portraying Regan.
The 14-year-old found speaking to the media intimidating as well. During press conferences, she was often asked questions by curious reporters who wanted to know her thoughts on the film’s idea. “The amount of pressure that came down on me wasn’t anything I was prepared for,” Blair told Dread Central. In particular, the pressure I was under from the media. They believed that I knew everything there was to know about Catholicism and faith. It was most likely the worst thing you could think of.
Blair struggled to find parts that didn’t portray her as a weak, unfortunate girl because of her portrayal as Regan, which she reprised in the 1977 Exorcist II: The Heretic.
She played a young girl fleeing her violent family in the 1974 television drama Born Innocent. A year later, she starred in Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic.
Her career spiraled into exploitation-type jobs after she made a disastrous decision to pose nude in the October 1982 issue of Oui magazine in an attempt to change industry preconceptions.
Returning to her pre-Exorcist enthusiasm, she established the non-profit Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation with the goal of saving and rehabilitating mistreated and abandoned animals.
Her life is still marred by the part she played fifty years ago, despite her activism and support for animals.
“What’s very discouraging at times is the inability (of the media) to look at what I’m trying to do,” Blair told The Sydney Morning Herald.I’m not angry at them, but I am sad.
We can all agree that one of the scariest films ever made is The Exorcist. It is still relevant given that it was shot in the 1970s. If you saw the movie, please share your comments with us!
