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How Exactly Did Linda Blair Contribute To The Exorcist: Believer As Technical Advisor?
The OG possessed girl was close at hand to coach the film's young leads through their demonic duties.
Back in July, we learned that while Linda Blair does not star in The Exorcist: Believer, she did serve as a technical advisor on the upcoming horror reboot (hitting theaters everywhere October 6).
Blair, of course, played the character of Regan MacNeil — the possessed girl in the 1973 original and its bizarre sequel — which made her uniquely qualified to offer constant advice to the project's young leads: Lidya Jewett and Olivia O'Neill. Indeed, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better person who truly understands what it's like to be an innocent teenage girl spewing unimaginable profanities, taunts, and even torrents of pea soup at concerned parents, priests, and medical professionals.
RELATED: Everything to Know About The Exorcist: Believer
Director, co-writer, and executive producer David Gordon Green (Halloween) recently elaborated on Blair's invaluable and empathetic input during principal photography while breaking down the latest trailer for the good folks over at Fandango.
What did Linda Blair contribute to The Exorcist: Believer?
"It was amazing to have Linda as a consultant," he said. "She was very helpful in trying to navigate the psychology of our young talent. Lidya and Olivia were amazing young actresses to work with — and we're asking them to go to very dangerous, very provocative, very spiritual places. From a psychological standpoint, we wanted to do that as safely as we could ... The fact that Linda had blazed this trail before was really valuable to all of us in trying to set a really healthy path to go to a pretty bizarre place."
The Halloween filmmaker also revealed that Jewett and O'Neill had to endure nearly three hours in the makeup chair for the various facial disfigurements required for a demonic takeover of the human body.
"We're dealing with infection, inflammation — all these horrendous, physical attributes that are coming from this possession," he explained. "The idea of two-and-a-half hours of makeup for these young performers to endure...if you didn't have that spirit, that energy, that sense of character and that sense of understanding of what we're going through to create this, it would've been a nightmare. But Lidya and Olivia were amazing and up for the challenge and really delivered."
Watch David Gordon Green break down The Exorcist: Believer trailer
Check out a first-look clip from The Exorcist: Believer
When does The Exorcist: Believer open in theaters?
The Exorcist: Believer will possess the big screen on Friday, October 6 — a week earlier than originally planned (you can thank Taylor Swift for the date change). Click here to land some tickets. Holy water, crucifix, and rosary beads sold separately.
Two sequels have already been green-lit. The first of the pair, officially titled The Exorcist: Deceiver, is currently scheduled to rise from the depths of Hell on April 18, 2025. A title and release date for the third entry have yet to be announced.
Craving some demonic thrills in the meantime? Head over to Peacock for The Exorcist III and Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist.
