Angela Rance

Angela Rance
Gender	Female
Species	Human
Family	Henry Rance(husband) Casey Rance(daughter) Katherine Rance(daughter) Chris MacNeill(mother) Howard MacNeil(father)
First Appearance	"Chapter One: And Let My Cry Come Unto Thee"
Last Appearance	"Chapter Ten: Three Rooms"
Actor	Geena Davis

“	Well, the next time you talk to God, ask Him how He can just sit back and let something like this happen. Then you tell me what He said.	”
–A stressed Angela Rance to Father Tomas about her possessed daughter

Angela Rance, also known as Regan MacNeil is a main character from The Exorcist, portrayed by Geena Davis. As a young girl, Angela goes through a horrifying experience as she is possessed by a demonic entity, and changes her identity fearing its repercussion on her future life. When the demon returns and possesses her youngest daughter, Angela rushes to Father Tomas, seeking help.

History

Youth

Regan lived with her mother Chris MacNeil, a successful actress, who was busy and absent most of the time, but was always tender and careful towards the 12-year-old girl. Regan found an ouija board in their basement and started playing with it. Through the board, she communicated with "Captain Howdy", also known as "the Salesman", who is also the same demon as Pazuzu, an invisible entity which her mother considered to be an "imaginary friend". Chris then told Regan to stop playing with the board, to which she did not listen. The seemingly friendly entity actually dragged Regan into demonic possession, from which Regan was later successfully released. Afterwards, Regan could not remember anything except the inability to control her body and hearing a voice. Financial problems led Chris to capitalize their story, publishing a novel titled The Devil in my Daughter about four years after the exorcism. Chris and Regan appeared on the talk show, Wake Up San Diego, on Monday, March 14th (possibly 1977). Fearing the repercussion of the possession in her future and feeling exploited by Chris, Regan changed her name to Angela and distanced herself from her mother.

Adulthood

Angela married Henry Rance and had two daughters, Kat and Casey. The Rance family attended masses and were friends with Father Tomas, a young priest apprentice from their parish. Kat was involved with a car crash that resulted in the death of her friend, and Angela stranged her behavior ever since Kat returned from the hospital. When their house started to be haunted by strange (and familiar) noises, Angela rushed to Father Tomas, asking for his help. Tomas was initially sleptical when Angela insisted that a demonic entity was disturbing her house and trying to possess Kat. Angela assured him it was all true, as embarassing as it was. Father Tomas then visited her and they were both attracted by the noises to the attic. Angela then found Casey was up there, and was told that Father Tomas "killed a rat".

Angela later found Casey behaving strangely, and filmed as she talked with a different voice. The voice told her to wake up, and Casey went back to normal, scaring Angela. She also received calls apparently from Casey, who declined she was the one to call. 

In the Exorcist season 1 finale, "Chapter Ten: Three Rooms", Angela breaks her back just before the Salesman leaves her body. At the end of the episode, the Rances live somewhere else and Angela, who is now in a wheelchair, says that she finally feels "safe". 

Notes

• Since the Exorcist television series is inspired by the original novel, Angela Rance is both a rebooted version of Chris MacNeil and a continuation of Regan as an adult.
  • Angela seeks help from Father Tomas, an updated version of Damien Karras, whom a desperate Chris sought in the novel and film.
• "Angela Rance" is an anagram for "A clean Regan".
• In a press release for the television series, the character was described as "Naturally beautiful, regal and proud but weighed down by stress, Angela does everything she can to stay positive and keep her faith even though her family is currently struggling. She can’t help but think, however, if perhaps her nightmares about a demon are a sign of what’s wrong."
• Angela (Regan) is 52 years old when the series starts. Forty years have passed since the original story.
• Regan MacNeil is the third main character to appear portrayed by a different actor throughout the Exorcist franchise.
• Jeremy Slater, the creator of the Exorcist television series, confirmed that Angela was fully integrated, which could have meant that she died and had no chance of survival. However, in the season finale, Angela is in a wheelchair and has survived the integration. Slater said that since Angela was possessed as a child and still has a part of "the real Regan" inside her, she built a defense mechanism, making the integration unsuccessful.

Gallery

Angela sees her younger self playing with the Ouija board

Regan "tells" her story.

The demon kills Chris.

Angela survives, but is now wheelchair-bound

The "Angela Room"

Angela breaks her back just before the demon leaves

The basement as it appears in the television series.