The weight of ‘The Exorcist‘ shadow was something that Linda Blair never fully managed to shed. The role had defined her career, making it the last thing she expected to revisit. However, when an opportunity to break the curse presented itself in the form of ‘Repossessed‘, she saw it as a way to make things really interesting.
Yet, turning supernatural horror upside down would require the right conditions. Before she would agree to work on the spoof, Blair decided to catch Carolco Pictures off guard and make an unusual demand. One specific condition she set became the key to shaping the film that would eventually become legendary.
Linda Blair Embraced ‘Repossessed’ To Escape Her Regan Image
While it would have been natural for many actors to revisit their famous roles, Linda Blair never seriously considered it. For years, she had tried to find ways to get past the iconic Regan MacNeil in William Friedkin’s horror masterpiece ‘The Exorcist.’
When writer-director Bob Logan proposed a collaboration, Blair was reluctant to revisit a chapter of her career that she had long tried to leave behind.
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Ultimately, however, it was the comedic concept behind ‘Repossessed‘ that made the actor reconsider. Instead of trying to recreate a successful formula, she saw the project as an excellent way to make fun of the genre and retire her past role for good.
“Bob promised we could do it like ‘The Naked Gun’ (1988) and ‘Airplane!’ (1980),” she later noted, adding, “I wanted to lay that image to rest.” In other words, she saw an opportunity to mock something that had followed her for nearly twenty years before the making of the horror movie and decided to seize it.
Blair Would Only Sign On Under One Condition
Although Linda Blair found ‘Repossessed‘ to be an intriguing project, she still insisted on certain conditions before agreeing to participate. When Carolco Pictures asked what it would take to secure her involvement, Blair made it clear that she would only join the project if Leslie Nielsen was cast as the priest.
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It is worth noting that the actor herself believed that the film would need some of Leslie Nielsen’s straight-faced delivery of humorous lines to be truly successful.
As it turns out, the studio’s subsequent attempt to talk Nielsen into starring in the movie was a resounding success; he agreed that it was a “hilarious” script and signed on immediately. Only after he had joined the project did Blair agree to appear in the film.
“They contacted Leslie, who thought the script was hilarious. He agreed to play the role,” she said.
In a further nod to her iconic past, the filmmakers named Blair’s character Nancy rather than Regan, a subtle joke she delighted in pointing out during the film’s promotion.
Together, Nielsen’s casting and the film’s self-aware humor gave Blair the confidence that ‘Repossessed‘ would be a genuine spoof rather than a simple rehash of ‘The Exorcist.’
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