What happened to Linda Blair in The Exorcist?: From child stardom and scandal to playing the landlady of S Club 7

aRegan McNeil, a high school girl possessed by a demon in William Friedkin’s novel exorcist (1973), Linda Blair spews obscenities, spits projectiles, confronts a man, slaps a priest, and masturbates with a cross. It’s rare to see a work that would be appropriate for her as a minor, let alone a 14-year-old girl playing her.

Half a century ago, the image of the foul-mouthed, sore, yellow-eyed Blair was seared into the corneas of an entire generation. Now, not one, but two of her young stars are hoping to recreate her influence. Exorcist: Believer, the first in a planned $400 million trilogy that picks up where Friedkin’s iconic picture left off. Director David Gordon Green and his production company Blumhouse have recently revived John Carpenter’s hit Halloween series with a trilogy reboot.Spoiler alert: In dire circumstances. Exorcist: Believer, which features twice the amount of Devil’s Child, but more isn’t necessarily better. Other than the return of Ellen Burstyn, who played Regan’s mother Chris in 1973, the sequel has little in common with its predecessor. Not sophisticated. There’s no tension. Blair isn’t there.

Blair, now 64 and a passionate animal activist, has no plans for a career in showbiz. In 2021, she tweeted that she had not been asked to return for the reboot, she said. “At this time, there are no discussions about me appearing or reprising my role,” she wrote on Twitter. Since then, some progress has been made. Prime Minister Blair was eventually hired as a consultant, and she was tasked with guiding two young people (Lydia Jewett, 16, and Olivia O’Neill, 15) through the ambiguous psychological territory of playing the embodiment of evil. . “We brought her on as an advisor because we work with young people and we want to get them safely into dangerous places,” Gordon-Green said. . Sadly, the same was not true of Prime Minister Tony Blair many years ago.

Friedkin, who was tasked with adapting William Peter Blatty’s 1971 bestseller, had seen about 2,000 girls for the role of Regan before Blair and her mother arrived unannounced and uninvited. . “She was like a gift from the movie gods,” Friedkin later said. Not only did she look the part (apple cheeks and button nose, butter won’t melt), but she showed a preternatural ease with the adult subject matter of her script. .

Friedkin recalled the memorable encounter in his 2013 biography: I asked her. ‘what? “It’s for masturbation.” “It’s like masturbation, isn’t it?” She answered without hesitation, with a little laugh. I looked at her mother again. Don’t wander around. “Have you ever done that?” I asked Linda. “You’re right, aren’t you?” she shot back. ” That’s when Friedkin realized, “I found Regan.” Years later, he continued: “She was the only person I met for her role that I thought wouldn’t be hurt by this experience.” Well, yes and no.

Blair had little acting experience when she walked into Friedkin’s audition room that day. But she was no stranger to the industry. By the time she was five years old, Blair was appearing in commercials for Ivory Soap, Welch’s Grape Jelly, and Carefree Gum. In 1968, she won her role on the daytime soap hidden face But I already had my eye on the door.Blair, who was obsessed with horses, wanted to be a vet; exorcista movie that would change her life, for better or worse.

“The French Connection” was life-threatening in many ways. ‘The Exorcist’ threatened the sanity of this wonderful 12-year-old girl

William Friedkin “The Exorcist” director

how to make exorcist The story is pretty much the same as the movie itself. During filming, several cast members and their families died suddenly, including Blair’s grandfather. Production had to be halted after a sudden electrical fire destroyed the set. A pigeon flew into the light box. Depending on who you talk to, what befell this movie is either a series of bad luck or the Mark of the Devil. At one point a priest was called to exorcise Set. But the trauma the star faced was undeniably real.

With the dawn of CGI still decades away, the challenge of bringing Blatty’s terrifying visions to life was a very physical undertaking. And Blair’s stunt double, Eileen Dietz, who was supposed to stand in for the child’s most grueling scenes, ended up appearing on screen. It took less than 20 seconds for Mr Friedkin to say he wanted Mr Blair to shoulder the burden instead. “Billy Friedkin came to me before filming and said, ‘If we don’t do this whole movie, this movie is going to be a joke,'” Blair recalled. Her bedroom on set, where she spent most of her days, was kept at glacial zero temperatures, causing the breath of those who entered it to leave ghostly traces in the air. While others were given thick coats and chunky knits, Blair braved the cold wearing only a spirea-thin nightgown. Similarly, the two hours she spent in the makeup chair each morning were tolerated without complaint. Even when it turned out that her makeup was so caustic that it burned her face, as she recalled years later.

Remember that Prime Minister Blair spent a lot of money. exorcist She had a fit of anger and her body went limp as the crew tugged at the ropes of her harness. Watching this movie now and seeing the violence that makes her body thrash and convulse, it’s no wonder Blair suffered a spinal cord injury. Her back fracture developed into scoliosis and she suffered from chronic pain for years. “Her back injury was far more serious than I had imagined and had a negative impact on my health for a long time,” Prime Minister Blair later said. Friedkin acknowledges that his own sets are dangerous, both physical and otherwise. “It is only by the grace of God that no one was injured or killed in these photos,” he said. exorcist and in 1971 french connection, its infamous dangerous car chase. “french connection My life was at risk in many ways. exorcist It threatened the sanity of that wonderful 12-year-old girl. ”

Blair has previously spoken about how her adolescent mindset provided an effective layer of protection between her and the film’s dark themes. She said, ‘You have to understand that when we made exorcist, I was a kid first and foremost,” she said. “So when I first read the novel before I auditioned, I looked at it more from a child’s perspective. How do they do this? How does a bed float? That’s what it is.” She then added:exorcist It was a work of fiction. I didn’t know at the time that it was about something real. ” Similarly, Friedkin’s reveling in Blair’s childish nature allows him to coax such a mature performance from his star. “She considers this photo a big game. She didn’t know that something like this was pornographic or dirty or sleazy,” he said. Friedkin soothed Blair with milkshakes whenever she was asked to do something particularly difficult. That was a big deal. Theological discussions about the text were left out the door.

Even if the film itself didn’t cause any damage, the media attention certainly did. exorcist It may have been controversial, but it was an instant hit. Unsurprisingly, the film received a lot of religious attention, with Prime Minister Blair accused of glorifying the devil. Influential Christian evangelist Bobby Graham declared that the film was tainted by the devil himself. Blair went on to recall the death threats she received and how people heckled her on the street. “Police were hired to live in my house,” she said. A bodyguard is requested by the film studio to protect Blair. But what they couldn’t protect her from was the media.

She traveled all over the world on press tours. exorcist – and the de facto mouthpiece. Blair, who was 14 at the time, was grilled about her faith. god; devil; evil; state of religion. “The amount of pressure that came on me when the movie came out was not something I was prepared for,” she said. “The pressure that was put on me, especially by the press, because I thought I had all the answers about the faith and Catholicism. It was probably the most terrifying thing that you can imagine.”

Amid death threats and religious questioning, it is some consolation that Prime Minister Blair received well-deserved praise. “Whatever one’s reaction to the film, Linda’s performance should be considered the most powerful and moving ever by a young actress in her first role,” one article said. Says. new york times She won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to 10-year-old Tatum O’Neal. variety It’s called the “Battle of the Babies.”

exorcist It cast a long shadow over Prime Minister Blair’s life. In the years that followed, she was typecast as a helpless teenager in television movies such as: born innocent (1974) and Sarah T – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975) and other B-movies. hell night (1981), chain heat (1983) and savage street (1984). When Blair was 15, she began dating “Jessie’s Girl” singer Rick Springfield, who was 10 years her senior. In her 2010 biography, Springfield describes their relationship in disturbing (and incriminating) detail: “I’m her first lover and she’s an eager learner. We share a love of dogs and sex, but we don’t combine them and do them separately.” (They share a passion for animal welfare and appear to have a good relationship.) In 1977, Blair was charged with selling and possessing cocaine. same year, Exorcist II This time I was completely disrespected, but liberated. Blair reprized his role one last time opposite Leslie Nielsen in the 1990 parody film. seized.

She last appeared on screen more than 20 years ago, in an uncredited cameo as a news reporter in a Wes Craven film. scream (1996) and a slightly mysterious role as the landlord of S Club 7 in the 9-episode series. LA7 (the year of 2000). “I chose S Club 7 because it was light. It’s a teenage band from England,” she said in an interview that year, explaining how she wanted to be perceived by a new generation. “They’re number one on Fox Family and the BBC. It’s international. We had to get the kids to walk up and say, ‘You’re that lady from S Club 7.’ That’s what they’re doing now.” That’s it. And I like having little kids watch me. It’s fun is not it. They have such small faces. ”

Off screen, Blair has been dedicated to advocating for animal rights. In 2004 she founded the Linda Blair Her World Heart Foundation, which rescues and rehabilitates abused and neglected animals.For this purpose, she uses herself exorcist He forever gained fame by frequently auctioning off autographed movie posters for animal rights groups. Looking back on her role in the seminal film, Blair said she wouldn’t want her child to play that role.

“I mean, I can’t disagree with people’s opinions,” she said. She said: “I can only say she didn’t understand. She had no idea what it was. She thought it was very strange that she was holding a cross and sticking it in a box. [and] say terrible words. But I have to say that I didn’t understand. ” In a 2000 interview IGN, Blair wonders what her life would have been like if she hadn’t stepped into Friedkin’s audition room in 1972, thinking, “I might have become a veterinarian in Connecticut.” Told. “I’ll probably get married and have kids. That’s probably what’s going to happen.”

‘The Exorcist: Believer’ is now in theaters