Jason Miller found worldwide fame after he starred in the iconic 1973 movie The Exorcist. Finding ways to scare audiences and terrify people around the world, the iconic blockbuster is revered as one of the greatest horror movies the world has ever seen.
Fans and people around the world were so terrified of the film that after the movie’s release, they thought that they were actually possessed. As revealed by William Friedkin, the director of the movie, people would run up to Jason Miller to get exorcised!
Jason Miller Was Just An Actor
Starring in the 1973 movie, people were really convinced that The Exorcist was a true story, and Jason Miller’s character Damien Karras was a real-life priest who handled such a case. With the movie getting highly revered as one of the greatest, fans were terrified of the movie but grateful for Jason Miller!
William Friedkin was the director of the movie and he had quite some stories to tell about working on the sets of the movie. The most notable story was that of people running up to Jason Miller and wanting the actor to cast their alleged demons out! In his talks (via EW), here’s what the director had to say about the success and the terror of that iconic movie.
“I did this film because I believe in the story. This film was made by a believer. The film, to me, is about the mystery of faith. I know it’s voted this-and-that horror film, but to me, it’s about the mystery of faith.”
He further continued,
“There was a lot of that. I used to walk down the street with Jason [Miller] in New York and people would come up to him and try to touch his jacket. ‘Father, I have a son, I have a son…!’ And he would say, ‘I’m just an actor!'”
In his other iconic tale, the director talked about one of the most difficult tasks that he had to do, finding a young actress for the role of the young Regan MacNeil. As per the director, finding Linda Blair was a blessing since it was all just a game for her!
Linda Blair Had No Problem Acting In The Exorcist
The director wanted a young actress for the lead role, and there were lots of auditions until one day, Linda Blair and her mother came in without an appointment. They had a good chat, as revealed by EW, and William Friedkin was quite impressed.
“If she was bothered by it during production, the rest of the cast couldn’t function, and nor could the crew. In the dailies, you’d see after every take, where she’s saying the most horrific things, I’d say cut, and then one of the prop men would hand her a milkshake and she’d be laughing. The whole thing to her was a game.”
All in all, the film received a high rating of 8.1/10 on IMDB and 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and was very well received around the world against a low budget of $12 million.
The Exorcist is available to stream on Max.
Source: EW
