Believer Confirms Linda Blair’s Involvement With Sequel

Summary

Director David Gordon Green explains that Linda Blair served as an advisor on the set of The Exorcist: Believer due to her experience with the original film.
Blair, who gained fame for her role as Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist, was not interested in reprising her famous role but instead offered guidance and advice to the young actors in the new film.
Green emphasizes the importance of Blair’s presence in helping the young talent navigate the intense psychological aspects of the film, ensuring their safety while exploring provocative and spiritual themes.

In a new interview with Total Film Magazine, director David Gordon Green opened up about horror icon Linda Blair’s involvement with his upcoming film, The Exorcist: Believer and revealed that the actress served an important role during filming.

Green’s upcoming supernatural horror film Exorcist: Believer was written by Green and Peter Sattler and stars Lidya Jewett, Olivia Marcum, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Leslie Odon Jr., and Ellen Burstyn. The movie follows Angela (played by Jewett) and Katherine (played by Marcum), friends who both start showing signs of a demon possession.

Believer is a revival sequel to William Friedkin’s 1974 horror classic, The Exorcist which starred Burstyn, Blair, Max Von Sydow, and Lee J. Cobb. The horror classic followed a young girl (played by Blair) who becomes possessed by a demonic entity, forcing her mother (played by Burstyn), to attempt to save her through an exorcism. While speaking about Blair’s involvement with the new film, Green told the outlet:

“She came on set because she was an advisor on the movie. I was really lucky to have her read the script, but she was not interested in a significant role and stepping back into that.”

Linda Blair Was Only 14 Years Old When She Starred as Regan MacNeil

Warner Bros. Pictures

Linda Blair was only 14 years old when she starred as Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist and beat off competition from 600 other young hopefuls in order to secure the role. Playing Regan ultimately earned Blair a Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

Still, taking on the character came with its own set of challenges. For example, Blair ended up injuring her lower back during the bed shaking stunt and also faced harsh backlash from the media for taking part in a movie that, at the time, was considered quite controversial.

Director Green added, “We brought her in as an advisor because we’re dealing with young people, and we want to take them to dangerous places safely.”

Though Blair isn’t reprising her famous role, the first trailer for Believer gives a nod to the iconic character by briefly showing a photo of Regan.

Previously, while chatting with Fandango, the Halloween Ends director talked about Blair’s involvement with the upcoming horror movie and confirmed that the actress served as a consultant during filming. Green said:

“It was amazing having Linda as a consult. She was very helpful in trying to navigate the psychology of our young talent. Lydia and Olivia were amazing young actresses to work with, and we’re asking them to go to very dangerous, very provocative, very spiritual places. And so, we wanted to do that as safely from a psychological standpoint as safely as we could.”

The director added, “Having Linda be there to kind of help navigate and give us advice alongside teachers, parents, and child psychologists. The fact that Linda had blazed this trail before was really, really valuable to all of us in trying to set a really healthy path to go to a pretty bizarre place.”

The Exorcist: Believer hits theaters on October 6th after being rescheduled due to competition from Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

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