Regan Teresa MacNeil is a character in the novel The Exorcist, its film adaptations, and the television series The Exorcist. In the 2014 adaptation of the BBC Radio 4 novel, Regan was portrayed by Lydia Wilson. Regan is the daughter of a famous actress Chris MacNeil. Regan is a shy, creative young woman who becomes possessed by the demon Pazuzu. Regan assumes a strange, aggressive behavior that worries and scares her mother, and begins to develop progressively inhuman traits and mannerisms. Her mother, Chris, consults physicians and psychiatrists, but no somatic nor psychiatric causes are found. The doctors finally suggest an exorcism, as patients who believe they are possessed sometimes benefit from ritualized treatment.
Regan became an icon of horror films and a primary influence for subsequent films depicting demonic possession. The character has been spoofed in many parodies (in one occasion by Linda Blair herself), such as the Scary Movie series.
Regan MacNeil is a 12-year-old girl and the daughter of actress Chris MacNeil. Regan is caught between her mother's grueling working schedule and the fact that her parents are in the process of an acrimonious divorce (her father is in Europe and is not seen in the movie).
She is described as shy, even diffident, and it is not within her nature to behave aggressively. She is devoted to her mother, making clay animals as gifts for her and leaving a rose at her place at the kitchen table each morning. Chris is determined to be a good mother, spending all her off days with her. Because Chris is an atheist, she does not teach Regan about religion. However, her atheism is not militant and she does not attempt to discourage any belief in a higher power that others have. When Regan asks about God, Chris tries to answer reassuringly.
Even though Chris knows Regan very well, it takes her some time to realize that Regan's bizarre changes are not neurological. At first she seeks doctors, who either consider it a case of bronchitis or an imaginary ailment. This results in further and more complicated testing, where it cannot be found where there is anything wrong with her medically, culminating in a point where some of the world's most prominent medical men convene. It steers towards the spiritual when one psychiatrist suggests demonic possession and recommends seeking the services of a priest.
Damien Karras, a priest who has studied psychology, is reluctant to approve exorcism. After a study of Regan, he agrees to it. His bishop authorizes the exorcism on the basis that he must be under the oversight of a more experienced priest, so he is aided by Lankester Merrin. A prolonged battle between Pazuzu and Karras ensues, including briefly transforming Regan into his deceased mother. After some time, Pazuzu looks for a new host, leaving Regan's body.
Regan is returned to normal with no apparent memory of her possession. However, in the penultimate scene of the first movie where Chris is given a friendly greeting by a priest, Regan gives him a kiss on the cheek, suggesting she has some memory remaining of Merrin and Karras and wished to give a posthumous thanks.
Exorcist II: The Heretic[]
The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon as they did not have William Peter Blatty's involvement and therefore may not have actually happened/existed.
In the sequel Exorcist II: The Heretic, which takes place four years after the events in The Exorcist, Regan is 16 years old, living in New York City as a dancer and undergoing psychiatric therapy, claiming to remember nothing about her plight in Washington, D.C., while her psychiatrist believes her memories are only buried or repressed. As the story progresses, Regan is revealed to have psychic healing powers (the reason why the demon attacked her previously).
Father Philip Lamont is assigned by the Cardinal to investigate Merrin's death, and visits Regan, but his attempts to question her about the circumstances of Merrin's death are rebuffed by her psychiatrist, Dr. Gene Tuskin, who believes that Lamont's approach would do Regan more harm than good. In an attempt to plumb her memories of the exorcism, and specifically the circumstances in which Merrin died, Tuskin hypnotizes Regan, to whom she is linked by a "synchronizer", a revolutionary biofeedback device used by two people to synchronize their brainwaves. Lamont returns to be coupled with Regan by the synchronizer, and interrogates her as she and Tuskin are entranced. Tuskin becomes overwhelmed by Regan's memories of the exorcism as Pazuzu's spirit attempts to break through and kill Tuskin, prompting Lamont to take Regan's place in the machine. Regan is able to save Tuskin's heart with her psychic powers, keeping Pazuzu at bay.
On a trip to Africa to meet with Kokumo, Lamont learns that Pazuzu attacks people who have psychic healing abilities. Regan is able to reach telepathically inside the minds of others; she uses this to help an autistic girl to speak as she waits to see Tuskin. Tuskin and her staff are shocked, but the girl's mother is too overjoyed to care, and despite Tuskin's attempt to keep them in the office to figure out what happened, insists on going home so the girl's father can hear her as well. Father Merrin, who belonged to a group of theologians that believed psychic powers were a spiritual gift that would one day be shared by all people, thought people like Kokumo and Regan were forerunners of this new type of humanity. In a vision, Merrin asks Lamont to watch over Regan.
Lamont and Regan return to the old house in Georgetown. The pair are followed in a taxi by Tuskin and Sharon, who are concerned about Regan's safety. En route, Pazuzu tempts Lamont by offering him unlimited power, appearing as a succubus doppelgänger of Regan. Although Lamont initially succumbs to the succubus, he is brought back by Regan and attacks her doppelgänger while a swarm of locusts deluges the house, which begins to crumble around them. However, Lamont manages to kill the doppelgänger by beating open its chest and pulling out its heart.
In the end, Regan banishes the locusts and Pazuzu by enacting the same bullroarer ritual attempted by Kokumo to get rid of locusts in Africa (although he failed and was possessed). Outside the house, Sharon dies from her injuries after she immolates herself, and Tuskin tells Lamont to watch over Regan. Regan and Lamont leave while Tuskin stays to answer police questions.
The Exorcist (TV series)[]
In the 2016 continuation of The Exorcist story, Regan is portrayed by Geena Davis. In the series, she has changed her name to Angela Rance in an effort to distance herself from her childhood trauma, exploitations by her mother, and hide from her demons. Pazuzu returns, this time as "The Salesman", finds her again and attack her family, possessing her younger daughter Casey. She makes a deal with Pazuzu to allow him to possess her once again in order to save Casey's life. While possessing her, Pazuzu murders her mother, Chris. Regan, with the help of the priests Tomas Ortega and Marcus Keane, finds the strength to once again exorcise the demon from her body and soul, but he retaliates by breaking her back, rendering her paralyzed but still alive.
Continuation of the original timeline[]
The Exorcist: Believer[]
In the film The Exorcist: Believer, Chris mentions her daughter a few times to Victor stating that Regan had moved away at some point after her mother's book went viral, Regan eventually reunites with her mother who was blinded and in the hospital, the two hug after not seeing each other in years.
Portrayal[]
The Exorcist[]
Casting[]
There were 600 applicants and 30 actresses trying out for the role of Regan MacNeil, including: Laura Dern, Eve Plumb, Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith, Pamelyn Ferdin, Anissa Jones, Kim Basinger, Denise Nickerson, April Winchell, and Dana Plato.
Winchell, daughter of the ventriloquist Paul Winchell, claims she was seriously considered for the part of Regan MacNeil until she developed pyelonephritis, which caused her to be hospitalized and ultimately taken out of consideration.[1]Anissa Jones also auditioned for the part, but producers felt her own familiar face, having played Buffy Davis in the recently-cancelled sitcomFamily Affair, would confuse and scare fans of both the show and Jones. Denise Nickerson was also seriously considered for the role of Regan MacNeil, partly based on her past experience with special effects and makeup, as she is best known for becoming a giant blueberry as her role as Violet Beauregard in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. However, her family, after reading the script and seeing some elements that caused them concern, refused to endorse her for the role. According to Panorama magazine, William Friedkin didn't give Brooke Shields the part of Regan McNeil because "she was too young for the part". It is known that Shields at the time wasn't known as an actress prior to the controversy of a similar film: Pretty Baby (1978). According to Variety magazine, it was revealed that Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds were contenders for the roles of Regan and Chris MacNeil.
Blatty and Friedkin ultimately went with lesser-known actors, to the studio's consternation. The agency representing Linda Blair initially overlooked her, recommending at least 30 other clients for the part of Regan. Blair's mother brought her in herself to try out for the role. Blair, whose credits were primarily in modeling and a single soap opera role. Friedkin later recalled her as "[S]mart but not precocious ... cute but not beautiful. A normal, happy 12-year-old girl". He asked if she knew what The Exorcist was about; she told him she had read the book. "[I]t's about a little girl who gets possessed by the devil and does a whole bunch of bad things." Friedkin then asked her what she meant. "[S]he pushes a man out of her bedroom window and she hits her mother across the face and she masturbates with a crucifix." Friedkin then asked Linda if she knew what masturbation meant. "It's like jerking off, isn't it?", and she giggled a little bit. "Have you ever done that?" he asked. "Sure; haven't you?" she responded.
Eileen Dietz was cast as Linda's body double (and as the face of Pazuzu), and was used in scenes too arduous for Blair to perform.
Filming[]
In the disturbing scene where Regan is masturbating with the crucifix, Eileen Dietz was used for the shot where Regan slaps her mother across the face. William Friedkin felt they needed someone with more heft physically to perform the stunt, and the double was shot from the back. The crucifix scene was filmed with Dietz, according to an interview with her in the documentary Starz Inside: Fantastic Flesh (2008).
The contortionist Ann Miles was hired to perform the famous "spider walk" scene, which was filmed on April 11, 1973. Ms. Miles was able to perform the scene by use of a harness and flying wires hung above the staircase used in the set; she would advise Friedkin when she was just barely touching the stairs with her hands and feet; and then she maintained that light touch as she was moved down the staircase by the harness and wires. William Friedkin deleted the scene before the film's December release. He felt it was "too much" of an effect because it appeared so early in the film. He later admitted that another reason for omitting the scene was that there was no way to hide the wires from view at the time. Almost 30 years later, Friedkin changed his mind and added the scene back for the extended 2000 version, with the wires digitally removed.
The scene where Regan projectile vomits at Father Karras only required one take. The vomit was intended to hit him on the chest. Instead, the plastic tubing that sprayed the vomit accidentally misfired, hitting him in the face. The look of shock and disgust while wiping away the vomit is genuine. Jason Miller admitted in an interview that he was very angered by this mistake. On the first day of rehearsing the exorcism sequence, Linda Blair's delivery of her foul-mouthed dialogue so disturbed the gentlemanly Max von Sydow that he actually forgot his lines. The bedroom set had to be refrigerated with meat locker air conditioners to capture the authentic icy breath of the actors in the exorcising scenes. Blair, who was only in a flimsy nightgown, says to this day she cannot stand being cold.
Exorcist II: The Heretic[]
Linda Blair agreed to reprise her role of Regan MacNeil for Exorcist II, but refused to wear demon make-up (a double was used for the flashback scenes depicting a possessed Regan). A key scene of a sleepwalking Regan about to wander off a rooftop was filmed in New York City, atop 666 Fifth Avenue (where Warner Bros. offices were then located). With no stunt person and no special effects, the shot showed actress Linda Blair's feet on the edge of the building with Fifth Avenue down below.
Linda Blair recalled issues with the script: "It was a really good script at first. Then after everybody signed on they rewrote it five times and it ended up nothing like the same movie". Blair said in one interview that Pallenberg directed a lot of the film as well as did rewrites. Pallenberg was credited as the second unit director and a "creative associate". Author Bob McCabe's book The Exorcist: Out of the Shadows (2000) contains a chapter on the film in which Linda Blair said the movie "was one of the big disappointments of my career."
Linda Blair reprises her role as Regan MacNeil for The Exorcist: Believer.
Differences between the novel and the film[]
Book version
Film version
Regan has a picture of her father, Howard MacNeil, on her bedside table. [2]
Her father is never physically seen in the film.
Regan undergoes extensive medical tests throughout the novel, rendering her possession ambiguous.
The medical tests are only briefly shown, and evidence of her possession is much more obvious.
The "spider walk" scene describes her crawling down the stairs animalistically, with her tongue poking out, chasing after Sharon on all-fours and licking her ankles.
While the scene from the book was accurately filmed, Friedkin was dissatisfied with the result and it was scrapped in favor of the bleeding mouth "spider walk" instead.
In the book, the crucifix masturbation scene is much longer, gorier, and sexually explicit, with Regan suffering a broken nose, butchery of her genitals, and an orgasm.
Regan is already heavily scarred, has no broken nose, and does not orgasm in the film. Instead, the film simply depicts her stabbing her groin through her bloodied nightgown before quickly cutting to a closeup of her ravaged face.
Trivia[]
The character has been spoofed in Scary Movie 2 with actress Natasha Lyonne in the role. Linda Blair
Natasha Lyonne as Megan Voorhees in Scary Movie 2.
herself spoofed Regan in the 1990 comedy Repossessed, alongside Leslie Nielsen. Popular belief and parodies give the false impression that Regan vomits on both priests during the exorcism, but she only vomits on Karras once when her first meets her alone, and merely spits phlegm onto Merrin. She does indeed vomit during the exorcism, but slowly onto the bed and Merrin's stole.
For the vomiting sequences, Eileen Dietz doubled (uncredited) for Linda Blair, and later sued unsuccessfully for puking credit. The substance that the possessed Regan hurls at Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) is thick pea soup. Specifically, it's Andersen's brand pea soup. The crew tried Campbell's but didn't like the "effect." Linda Blair hated vegetables so much at the time, that the use of the pea soup actually did make her vomit.
In the scene where the words "help me" arise out of Regan's torso, the effect was achieved by constructing a foam latex replica of actress Linda Blair's belly, writing the words out with a paint brush and cleaning fluid, then filming the words as they formed from the chemical reaction. Special effects artist Dick Smith then heated the forming blisters with a blow dryer, causing them to deflate. When the film was run backwards, it appeared as though the words were rising out of young Regan's skin in an attempt to summon intervention.
Linda Blair injured her back when a piece of the rig broke as she was thrown about on the bed.
In the book "Former Child Stars: The Story of America's Least Wanted", William Peter Blatty later said that he had "no such recollection" of Dana Plato's mother turning down the role of Regan actually happening, and that Plato herself may have been the source for this rumor. She eventually was given a role in Exorcist II: The Heretic.
For The Exorcist III, Carolco Pictures had the idea of a grown up Regan and giving birth to possessed twins but it was abandoned and the story got switched to Blatty's novel Legion instead. John Carpenter wanted to direct The Exorcist III but William Peter Blatty directed it, changing the story and the movie.
Due to death threats against Linda Blair from religious zealots who believed the film "glorified Satan", Warner Bros. had bodyguards protecting her for six months after the film's release.
Regan is the name of one of the wicked daughters who betrays the title character in William Shakespeare's "King Lear".
William Peter Blatty said that William Friedkin misinterpreted the head spinning scene. He said Regan's head was described as turning almost all the way around, not literally all the way around, rotating 360° the way it did.
Several scenes were filmed that director William Friedkin would have loved to include in the movie, such as a scene showing Chris and Regan actually visiting some historic landmarks (as Chris suggests they should do in the movie). However, the soundtrack for the scene had gone missing. Another scene showed a possessed Regan slithering over the floor and upsetting several house guests by making obscene gestures with her tongue. The original negative of the scene got lost, and Friedkin refused to use a qualitatively inferior workprint he had of the scene instead.
In the novel, the possessed Regan has diarrhea and frequently relieves herself. Because of this she has to wear diapers. It is also frequently mentioned in the book that her bedroom has an almost unbearable stench.
The most disturbing scene to the majority of viewers was that of Regan having an arteriogram, the first medical test. William Friedkin, attributes this to the fact that the procedure itself looked very realistic, the man who played the doctor was an actual neurosurgeon in real life and that Linda Blair was as believable as a young, scared girl undergoing a scary, invasive procedure. The second medical test is a pneumoencephalograph.
To entertain and distract Linda Blair during the long makeup process she had to sit through, the crew set up a television near her makeup chair so she could watch The Beverly Hillbillies (1962).
Jeremy Slater, the creator of The Exorcist (TV Series) confirmed that Angela Rance (who is also Regan MacNeil) has been fully integrated by the demon, which would have confirmed her death. However, Regan/Angela survives the integration and is in a wheelchair. According to Slater, since Angela was possessed as a child and still has a part of "the real Regan" inside her, she built up a defense mechanism, making the integration unsucessful.[3][4]
Scary Maze Game.
A publicity photo of Regan's head-spinning animatronic has become notorious for its use in online screamer pranks in the early 2000s, most notably the Jeremy Winterrowd's viral "Scary Maze Game".
