Original Exorcist Actress Linda Blair Would Return To The Franchise Under One Condition
Warning: this post will contain spoilers for "The Exorcist: Believer."
As of this writing, actress Linda Blair has appeared as Regan MacNeil in three of the six extant "Exorcist" feature films. She was only about 13 when she appeared in William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" in 1973, and returned in 1977 to reprise her role in John Boorman's truly terrible "Exorcist II: The Heretic." Blair then sat out the three following sequels and prequels, returning in 2023 for a cameo in David Gordon Green's "The Exorcist: Believer." In that film, Regan only appeared at the very end of the film to comfort her elderly mother Chris (Ellen Burstyn) who has been blinded by a demon earlier in the picture. One might also want to count Blair's excellent comedic performance in the 1990 farce "Repossessed" as an official "Exorcist" appearance. Her character was named Nancy Aglet, but everything else in that film synchs up with Friedkin's original film.
Blair was immensely active for decades, appearing in movies and on TV pretty steadily right up to the present. In recent years, she's taken to appearing in documentaries and unscripted TV shows like "Pit Boss," a 2010 series about Shorty Rossi, the founder of a now-shuttered pit bull rescue shelter called Shorty's Rescue, once located in San Ysidro, California. Blair, as it so happens, is a passionate advocate for animal rights, and has devoted a good deal of her life to saving animals' lives. In 2004, Blair founded the Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation an organization devoted to "rehabilitating and rehoming abused, neglected and abandoned animals."
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Blair noted that she would happily return to the big screen to play Regan MacNeil once again ... but only if fans are willing to give to her Foundation.
The Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation
Back in July of 2021, it was reported that Universal paid a whopping $400 million for the film rights to "The Exorcist," and that they were going to make three new movies, all of them to be co-written and directed by David Gordon Green. The idea, it seems, was to replicate the success of the three "Halloween" films Green had recently made for Blumhouse. In both cases, a popular horror franchise from the 1970s was being rebooted in the present, each time with no mention of the previous films in the series apart from the first. "The Exorcist: Believer" was not a good film, nor was it a financial success. It's still likely, however, that Green will continue to make his intended sequel "The Exorcist: Deceiver."
Burstyn's character has been blinded, so there is no word as to whether or not she will return for "Deceiver," nor has Blair announced that she will definitely be in the film. Indeed, for EW, Blair noted that she would only return to play Regan once more under two conditions:
"If the audience wants me to come back, they need to help me to change the plight of the animals right now. [...] I'm hoping the public will understand. I want to go back and work, but I won't leave my animal friends."
One can petition Universal, of course, but if Blair were to see an influx of cash into her charity, then it's more likely she'll do more acting opposite the Devil. And even if you don't care whether or not Blair appears in any additional "Exorcist" sequels, it may be a good idea to donate to her cause anyway. If you live in Southern California, you can even bring supplies to her kennel.