Inside Linda Blair’s Shocking Exorcist Return: ‘Nobody Had Any Idea What Was About to Happen’ (Exclusive)

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Exorcist: Believerin theaters now.

Exorcist: Believer contains many shocking events — but none contain the element of surprise like a cameo in a horror movie.

Towards the end of the film, Linda Blair returns as Regan MacNeil alongside her mother in the franchise, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn).

For fans of the films, the cameo is a jaw-dropping moment, as Blair previously said she had not been approached to star in the film Believer or its two planned sequels.

In the classic 1973 original, Blair, now 64, played a young girl possessed by a demon after playing with a Ouija board. The exorcist was a critical and commercial success, grossing $441 million at the worldwide box office. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and became the first horror film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Exorcist: Believer Director Reveals How He Convinced Ellen Burstyn to Return to Franchise (Exclusive)

Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn on the set of The Exorcist.

Warner Bros. Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty

Burstyn, 90, received Oscar nominations alongside director William Friedkin, Jason Miller for best supporting actor and Blair for best supporting actress. It won the award for best screenplay and best sound.

The new film features the return of Chris as she agrees to help a single father (Leslie Odom Jr.) when his daughter and her best friend become possessed.

It’s revealed that Chris and Regan have a strained relationship and haven’t spoken in years. After a horrific incident involving Chris, Regan arrives at her mother’s hospital bed during one of the film’s final scenes.

Believer director David Gordon Green (Halloween is ending) describes Burstyn and Blair’s on-screen reunion 50 years in the making as “a wonderful moment”. He reveals that their first shot is what made it into the movie.

“We took two just for s—s giggles, but taking one was magic,” says Green, 48.

To keep even his on-set crew a surprise, Green says he didn’t add Blair’s name to the call list for the day. “Her code name was Bartholomew,” he says. “No one had any idea what was going to happen.”

“It was a really special moment to be a part of that reunion, to be a part of that legacy, the connection that’s so monumental that those two artists have,” shares Gordon. “To witness that reconnection was really amazing.”

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Ellen Burstyn and director David Gordon Green on the set of The Exorcist: The Believer.

Anne Marie Fox/Universal Pictures

‘The Exorcist’ stars Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair remember director William Friedkin after his death at 87

As for how he convinced Blair to come back, Green says he wooed her in “similar ways” to Burstyn.

“I don’t just want to say, ‘Hey, actors, do you want to be in my movie? Yes or no? Check one,'” Green explains. “I want to say, ‘Here I am, here’s who I am, here’s my intentions. I’m going to get creative. Maybe I’ll have something to talk to you about later.’ ”

Green says Blair, who was just 14 when he filmed the original, became a consultant on the film, advising Green to “design the production around the psychology for the best benefit” of the child actors on set.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations about having a child psychologist on set and what we need to do during production and what to do post-production, what to do after the movie comes out,” says Green. “And so we were getting to know each other from that kind of ethical, creative standpoint.”

Green wouldn’t reveal whether Blair and Burstyn will reprise their characters in the two planned sequels, but says he’s excited to “see how far they can take it” as he embarks on finishing his new The exorcist trilogy.

“I have an endless list of ideas about things I’d like to do,” he says.

Exorcist: Believer it’s in theaters now.

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Source: HIS Education