Ellen Burstyn’s career is not slowing down.
In the chat for Interview magazine with her Law and order: organized crime costar, Christopher Meloni, Exorcist: Believer the actress reflected on the “bizarre” feeling of still having a thriving screen presence at age 90.
“I’m turning 91 in December and I’m busier than I can remember at any time in my career,” said Burstyn, who later said in the July 12 interview that she was “juggling” the production of two films at autumn.
She added: “And I don’t get it at all. I mean, what is all this stuff about the age population in Hollywood? How am I left out of it?”
When Melona (62) was asked what she attributed it all to, Burstyn joked: “I don’t know, except maybe everyone else who could have played those roles has already died, so I’m the only actress still around who can play a great-grandmother or something. ”
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Ellen Burstyn in Los Angeles on September 22, 2013. Kevork Djansezian/Getty
Exorcist: Believer Director Reveals How He Convinced Ellen Burstyn to Return to Franchise (Exclusive)
She also said she has a lot to be thankful for, telling Melona about her wake-up routine: “I try to make the first words out of my mouth be ‘Thank you.’ ”
“Thank you for being alive. Thank you for being safe. Thank you for being healthy. Thank you for being 90 years old and still going,” Burstyn said. “Thank you for my puppies. I mean, I have a lot to live for in a state of gratitude.”
After Meloni said she “admires how strong she is,” Burstyn noted that she’s a vegetarian and that “the secret is that she eats well, exercises, doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t do drugs, and chooses to live a healthy life.”
“That’s what I decided after doing all those bad things for several decades,” she added.
As for what she does for fun now, “I walk my dogs. I read a lot. I go to concerts. I play with my friends, I call people,” Burstyn said.
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Ellen Burstyn entered Exorcist: Believer (2023). ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ trailer shows Ellen Burstyn returning to save two demonic girls
Touching on her return to The exorcist franchise for the first time and reprising his role as Chris MacNeil from the original 1973 film, Burstyn told Melona with a laugh, “I don’t know if anyone in the history of filmmaking has ever recreated a character that he did 50 years ago. It sounds like a first to me.”
“There aren’t that many people still working in the business after 50 years, let alone recreating a character they created so long ago,” she continued. “I have a real connection and feeling for the other actors in the movie, because we’ve all been through something. You can’t make a movie like that without going through a lot of real, emotional stuff. So the things that happened in that movie, that touched on things from the first movie, grabbed me.”
The Oscar winner also said she has “a lot of respect” for the new film’s director and co-writer, David Gordon Green, who helmed the latest Halloween trilogy.
“He’s a deep thinker, and it shows in the script,” Burstyn said. “I’m anxious to see how people react to it, because it’s very different from the first one, but certain elements are the same.”
Exorcist: Believer is in theaters on Friday, October 6.
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Source: HIS Education