Linda Blair, Lidya Jewett, Olivia O’Neil.Photo:Jody Cortes/Getty, VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty, Phillip Faraone/Getty
Jody Cortes/Getty, VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty, Phillip Faraone/Getty
Linda Blair’s return toThe Exorcistfranchise was done with love in her heart.
While chatting with PEOPLE about her non-profit organizationThe Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, the actress, 64, also opens up about reprising her role of Regan MacNeil inExorcist: Believer.
The film sees the return ofEllen Burstynas Regan’s mom, Chris MacNeil, as she agrees to help a single father (Leslie Odom Jr.) when his daughter and her best friend become possessed.
While Blair initially declined to sign on, she eventually joined the project when filmmakers approached her about serving as an advisor to the film’s two young actresses —Lidya JewettandOlivia O’Neill.
“I came on as an advisor so that the girls would be taken care of, whether it was religious, theological or anything to do with the process that they were going through. It’s a very horrible creature to play. It’s mean, it’s evil, it’s horrible,” she says. “So I just wanted to make sure they were okay.”
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Linda Blair in ‘The Exorcist’.Everett
Everett
The film was a critical and commercial success, earning $441 million at the worldwide box office to date. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and became the first horror film to be Oscar-nominated for Best Picture.
Still, filming of the movie was traumatic for Blair, who was just 14 at the time. Speaking on an episode of Shudder’sCursed Films, the actress recalled a stunt gone wrong that left her with an injury.
“I’m crying, I’m screaming, they think I’m acting up a storm. It fractured my lower spine,” Blair said on the episode, perLAD Bible. “No, they didn’t send me to the doctor, it is the footage that’s in the movie.”
Lidya Jewett and Olivia O’Neill in ‘Exorcist: Believer.'.Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
InExorcist: Believer, it is revealed that Chris and Regan have a strained relationship and haven’t spoken in years, but after a horrific incident involving Chris, Regan comes to her mother’s hospital bedside during one of the film’s final scenes.When asked what it was like getting to embody Regan again after five decades, Blair admits to PEOPLE that it was “bizarre.”
“That’s the honest answer,” she continues. “[But it was] really incredible.“And while two sequels are already planned for the future, Blair says she has no clue if Regan will be involved in them. “In all honesty, I know nothing,” she candidly admits. “… I don’t know what they’re doing.“The Exorcist: Believeris available to stream and purchase now.
source: people.com
