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)