The Exorcist_ Behind-the-Scenes Stories From Linda Blair (Flashback)

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00:00 Each time we came to a different part

00:02 of the demonic possession, it got harder and harder.

00:06 It wasn't so bad prior to the heavy makeup,

00:09 but each time the demon did something, it was difficult.

00:13 - Your mother's in here with his car.

00:16 Would you like to leave a message?

00:17 - What I tried to do with the exorcist

00:19 was do a story about an ordinary street

00:22 in an ordinary little town

00:24 with an ordinary house on the corner

00:27 and everything about it is normal,

00:29 except upstairs there's a little girl

00:32 who was possessed by the devil.

00:34 - I'm telling you that that thing upstairs

00:35 isn't my daughter.

00:37 - I had interviewed over 500 girls

00:39 before I found Linda Blair.

00:40 She was an extraordinarily gifted natural actress.

00:44 - When my mother and I first read the book,

00:46 I think the most important thing to remember

00:48 is children don't know a lot of things about religion.

00:51 So for me, I ask questions like everybody else asks.

00:54 How does she jump up and down on the bed

00:56 and how do the special effects work?

00:58 - The power of Christ compels you.

01:01 - We built this set.

01:02 The exterior was in Georgetown.

01:04 The interior was on a soundstage in New York

01:06 and the set cost about $500,000 to build

01:10 and one morning at four o'clock in the morning,

01:12 I got a phone call from the production manager

01:15 who said, "You're not gonna believe this,

01:16 "but the whole set has burned to the ground."

01:19 And what had happened was sometime during the morning hours,

01:24 this set mysteriously burned to the ground.

01:28 They never figured out what happened.

01:30 We had to rebuild the set.

01:31 We had to shut the picture down for three months

01:34 and rebuild the entire set.

01:37 - I thought you were supposed to be an expert.

01:39 - There are no experts.

01:42 - I think that "The Exorcist" is an incredible film.

01:45 You have, number one, an incredible novel, screenplay.

01:50 Billy Friedkin, who directed the film, he had the vision.

01:53 He knew what he wanted to do, the acting.

01:57 Ellen Burstyn, her performance.

01:59 If you did not believe her,

02:01 you would never have felt any sympathy for me.

02:04 - You ever heard of exorcism?

02:06 - It became very strange, very strange.

02:08 A lot of things had happened in connection with the film

02:11 that were as inexplicable as the events

02:14 depicted in the film.

02:15 We had a priest who came on the set periodically

02:18 and would exercise the set

02:20 and then things would go well for a while.

02:23 For a month or so,

02:24 and then there would be something extraordinarily weird

02:27 happen again.

02:29 - Where's Reagan?

02:30 - In here with us.

02:33 - When "The Exorcist" came out,

02:34 it was a lot of people that it unnerved.

02:37 And I think they felt some kind of connection to me.

02:40 So out of respect, Warner Brothers was kind enough

02:45 to make sure that I had constant protection.

02:48 I'm appreciative that they were responsible

02:51 to make sure that my safety was in order.

02:54 It's just one of those things,

02:55 this kind of film is going to bring out

02:57 some different personalities in people

02:59 and they wanna read something different into the project.

03:02 It was hard, but it's okay.

03:04 - Ah, it burns!

03:06 - If you look at the film very carefully,

03:09 there's the possibility that everyone involved

03:12 is kind of a victim of mass hysteria.

03:15 They're just overwrought by their inability

03:18 to cope with this illness.

03:20 So it's very possible in my mind,

03:24 having made "The Exorcist,"

03:26 that it is not necessarily about demonic possession.

03:29 The film to me is more about the mystery of faith.

03:33 (wood cracking)

03:35 - It is he who commands you!

03:37 - As difficult as the film was to make,

03:39 it's something I'm very, very proud of.

03:41 (eerie music)

03:44 (gentle music)

03:46 (bright music)

03:49 (bright music)

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