Whatever Happened To The Girl From The Exorcist?
Linda Blair cemented her place in cinematic history with her role as Regan in 1973's "The Exorcist." She played a young girl possessed by a demon, and her performance proved so shocking that audiences didn't know how to react. "People were running up the aisles and into the lobby, some of them making it out to the street before vomiting, while others did it en route," Nat Segaloff wrote in his book "The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear" (via The New York Post).
Blair reprised her role in "Exorcist II: The Heretic," and when Ellen Burstyn returned for 2023's "The Exorcist: Believer," many fans wondered if Blair would follow. Director David Gordon Green told Fandango that she consulted on the film, specifically advising new stars Lidya Jewett and Olivia O'Neill on how to deal with the troublesome subject matter. "She was very helpful in trying to navigate the psychology of our young talent," he said. "The fact that Linda had blazed this trail before was really valuable to us."
In the years following its release, her role in "The Exorcist" would go on to define her career, even as she pushed against Hollywood's expectations of her. Blair told KTLA. "... And they wonder why you're not working. 'What happened?'" That's where we come in. Read on to learn whatever happened to the girl from "The Exorcist."
She won critical acclaim for playing Regan
In the aftermath of "The Exorcist," Linda Blair was swept up in a whirlwind of publicity. Audiences were concerned that Blair had been irreparably damaged by the things she was asked to act out on screen, even suggesting that the role might have driven her insane. Blair, though, refuted that. "I know some people might have had problems," she told The Desert Sun. "... But to me it was just a job."
While certain audiences sent the young actor death threats for "glorifying Satan," critics heaped praise on her performance. In addition to being nominated for an award for New Star of the Year, she won best supporting actress at the Golden Globes. She even received an Academy Award nomination for her work on the film but she didn't end up winning that one. Nevertheless, she presented an award at that year's ceremony (via YouTube), joking with Billy Dee Williams that she hadn't seen her own performance. "Well, I don't like standing in lines," she quipped.
The message was clear: "The Exorcist" catapulted Blair to stardom and the role would haunt her forever.
Her TV movies shocked audiences
Post-"The Exorcist," Linda Blair starred in a handful of made-for-television films that dealt with extremely difficult topics. In 1974, she led "Born Innocent," a film about a young girl who is raped after running away from home. "It was very controversial," she later told IGN. "[It was] the one about the teenage runaways and the fact that there's child abuse at home, people don't always know why, and the kids run away... that's the first time that teenage abuse had been brought up."
The following year, in 1975, Blair played the title character in "Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic," a Richard Donner-directed television film about a girl unable to control her drinking. In an interview for the film's Blu-ray release (via YouTube), Blair looked back on her limited experience with alcohol when she shot the movie. "In the beginning, it was more fictitious for me," she said. "It was more... like 'The Exorcist,' it just wasn't real." She was able to play the role by mimicking the adults she had seen around her and in movies, successfully pulling off the part.
The controversy that followed these roles shaped Blair's public perception. "I couldn't understand at the time why I kept being put into these taboo projects," she told Hollywood Chicago. She laughed to IGN, "People thought I was really a troubled teen. I was possessed. I was drunk. I was a runaway."
Her relationship with Rick Springfield raised eyebrows
Linda Blair might not have been a troubled teen in precisely the way she played one on television, but she did have her fair share of controversies. When she was just 15, Blair went public about her relationship with singer Rick Springfield, later best known as the artist behind "Jessie's Girl." He was 25 at the time. While modern fans — and the law! — might rightly be concerned about that age gap, Blair's mother was evidently not. "Mom treated him as a son," Blair told the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast. She has only happy memories from that time now, elaborating, "... It was a really beautiful young love, like Romeo and Juliet. We hold it very sacred."
Springfield elaborated on their relationship in what an Entertainment Weekly review called an "icky" memoir, titled "Late, Late At Night." After confessing that he was Blair's first love, Springfield wrote, "She's invited to premieres and Hollywood parties and we go as a couple, blindly and innocently to the media slaughter. We're actually really shocked by the incensed articles in both teen and regular press about our affair."
The relationship didn't last, as Blair explained to Studio 10. While she claimed not to remember headlines about the relationship, she admitted the pressures of being in the limelight drove them apart. "He had his own world, and then there was mine," she said. "The most famous teenager in the world."
Exorcist II: The Heretic was critically reviled
In 1977, four years after "The Exorcist," Linda Blair reprised her character Regan for "Exorcist II: The Heretic." She told The Desert Sun that it was quite a different film than the original. "I play Regan, the same girl, four years later," she said. "And she's a perfectly normal girl, except she has these psychic powers and really weird dreams. The thing is, there's a piece of the demon's mind left inside her."
"Exorcist II: The Heretic" presented Blair with a number of new opportunities to showcase her range, including performing her own stunts. Regan jumps onto a moving train in the film, and at one point she also sleepwalks along the edge of a rooftop, 34 stories up. "I'm not into using stunt people," Blair explained to the newspaper. "I feel that doing that sort of thing is part of acting."
Unfortunately, the different story and increased action didn't pan out for Blair. While "The Exorcist" is routinely touted as one of the best films of all time, the sequel was not critically acclaimed, to put it mildly. "Exorcist II: The Heretic" currently sits at a paltry 9% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Blair's career was in trouble.
She took a year off from acting to show horses
Linda Blair is a horse girl. She's always been so much of a horse girl, in fact, that her character in "The Exorcist" loves horses specifically because Blair does too. She told IGN, "They did add [that scene]. That was because I did love horses." When she completed filming on the movie, she even received a horse as a gift. "I named the horse Best Director because I believed it came from Billy Friedkin," she said, only learning later that William Peter Blatty, who wrote the book the film was based on (as well as the film's script), had contributed as well.
When she turned 18, after the release of "Exorcist II: The Heretic," Blair took time off from acting to focus on her first love. She already had some experience showing horses professionally, but she spent a year doing nothing else, as she would soon be aging out of competition. "I train and show hunters and jumpers," she explained to The Desert Sun, ticking off East Coast states where she would soon travel with her horses. "... I own four, and I'm showing three of them myself. It gets to be a full-time thing. ... I don't even want to hear of any acting jobs this year."
Linda Blair grows up: a drug bust and provocative photos
In 1977, during Linda Blair's year off from acting, she ran into trouble with the law. Blair was arrested in a drug operation that also rounded up 31 other people, according to The New York Times. Drug Enforcement Administration officials claimed that Blair was involved in a plot to sell more than $3 million in cocaine, which they confiscated during raids in both Florida and Texas. Blair pled not guilty, and the court battle over whether to extradite her to Texas or charge her first on amphetamines charges in Connecticut dragged on throughout 1978. In 1979, she appeared in a Florida court and pled not guilty on a charge of distributing an ounce and a half of cocaine.
In raw press footage shared to YouTube and dated either 1985 or 1986, Blair spoke at length about the situation. "I really didn't have anything to do with it," she claimed. "It was a cover-up for... There was a Senator's daughter involved. There was a lot of things." As a result, Blair said, word went around that she had a drug problem, which she says she did not. "I was basically blackballed in Hollywood," she concluded.
Around the same time, Blair posed on the cover of Oui. The provocative photo bore the headline, "From Exorcist moppet to sex symbol." Blair explained, "The pictures were shot for a purpose: to show people that I was no longer a child."
She spent the 80s doing B-movies
Linda Blair's transition "from Exorcist moppet to sex symbol" meant that she spent much of the 1980s as a scream queen, acting in a number of schlocky horror and action films. In 1981's "Hell Night," she played a young woman who spends a dreadful night in a terrifying mansion. She told The Washington Post that "Hell Night" felt like the right time to dip back into horror. "You have to make a living. I thought, 'I hadn't done one for nine years. Why not do it again?'" she reasoned. ("Exorcist II: The Heretic" was released only four years earlier, but hey, who's counting?)
In "Savage Streets," she played a crossbow-wielding vigilante who hunts down the gang that harmed her sister. In an interview for the film's home video release (via YouTube), Blair recalled signing up because she liked the character's independence. "It was an easy choice to say yes to a project that would allow me to have some fun and be a strong female character, and something that you pretty much figured the audience would be cheering for," she said.
Finally, in 1989, Blair starred in "Repossessed," a spoof of "The Exorcist" that saw her once again bound to a bed with the devil inside. "'The Exorcist' was just a movie," Blair reflected in an episode of Lifetime's "Intimate Portrait" (via YouTube). "... For me, it was one of the greatest purging experiences."
Linda Blair at Spooky World
In the '90s, a theme park called "Spooky World" opened in Berlin, Massachusetts. The horror-themed location boasted haunted hayrides, frightening houses, and a chance to meet some horror stars. Luminaries like Kane Hodder of "Friday the 13th" fame, special effects legend Tom Savini, Elvira, and "Monster Mash" singer Bobby Pickett all turned up, entertaining guests and signing autographs.
Linda Blair, too, went to Spooky World numerous times. This was still a relatively new concept at the time; the modern horror convention industry had yet to emerge. "Kane Hodder and Linda Blair never did autograph sessions before Spooky World," park founder David Bertolino told Rue Morgue. "It was their first time, and they did very well." Park guests loved hanging out with their favorite horror stars, as Quinn Monahan, director of "Spooktacular!," a documentary about the park, elaborated. "None of the horror teens would be caught dead at a hayride," he said. "They all came for Tom Savini and Linda Blair."
Even though she had, at times, chafed against only being known for "The Exorcist," Blair enjoyed going to Spooky World to interact with people her acting had touched. When the park moved to Foxboro, MA, Blair spoke with The Sun Chronicle about her appearance. "I feel this is a treasured time in my life. I have the opportunity to meet people who each has a different story to tell about how the film affected them," she said. "I really enjoy meeting them."
She worked with Wes Craven twice
Back in 1978, amid the public furor over her drug bust, Linda Blair starred in "Summer of Fear." The television movie, directed by horror legend Wes Craven, was based on a book by Lois Duncan, the author behind "I Know What You Did Last Summer." Blair played Rachel, a girl who begins to suspect that her cousin might be a witch. Craven complimented Blair in an episode of Lifetime's "Intimate Portrait" (via YouTube), acknowledging what she was going through at the time. "The fear of, you know, the trouble she had had with the law, and with drugs, and with supposedly wild living and so forth," he said.
Blair reunited with Craven in 1996, when he gave her a cameo in "Scream." The "Exorcist" star gets a small moment shortly after the first attack on Sidney (Neve Campbell). As Dewey (David Arquette) drops her off at school, Blair's nosy reporter runs over and asks, "So how does it feel to almost be brutally butchered? People wanna know! They have a right to know!" Eagle-eyed viewers will notice Blair's cross earrings, a fitting reference to her iconic role.
She starred in Grease on Broadway
Throughout the course of her career, Linda Blair has gotten the chance to show off her singing voice a few times. In "Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic," her character performs a bit of the Carole King classic "It's Too Late." In the 1987 film "Nightforce," a movie where Blair's character rescues her friend from Mexican cartels, she sang a song called "I Still Remember" that was included on the film's soundtrack.
Still, she'd never gotten to really prove herself as a singer until 1997, when she played streetwise high-schooler Rizzo in a Broadway production of "Grease." She told The View, "I'm having the time of my life." She said that she'd been interested in doing something more dramatic on stage but instead found herself singing and dancing. Pressed by Joy Behar, Blair confessed that her castmates carried the show. "The guys are great, and the girls are great. So I just sort of move along with them. And Rizzo doesn't have to be the very best singer, but she has a lot of personality!" she said.
Originally, the production announced that Blair would play Rizzo for three months. ("Heads are spinning at Grease!" one advertisement for her appearance blared, proving that Blair would never be able to escape her role in "The Exorcist.") However, a few weeks after she took over the role, Playbill reported that she would be stepping away sooner than anticipated. No reason was given for her departure.
She was on S Club 7 in LA
By the year 2000, it seems that Linda Blair was tired of only being offered horror movie roles. She signed on to play a landlord named Joni in the second season of "S Club 7," the BBC show about the pop group. Season 2 saw the band head to Los Angeles to try to make it big, ultimately running into Blair's character right when they needed a place to stay. She recurred as Joni throughout the season, leaving the show when the band left Hollywood behind at the end of the year.
Blair told IGN that she took the role because she wanted to push back against her typecasting. After all, she'd been tied to her role in "The Exorcist" throughout her entire life, so she hoped that the "S Club 7" show would expose her to a different audience. Children, she said, only knew her as someone who starred in a movie they weren't allowed to watch. "I was actually offended by that because I think I've done a lot of wonderful work," Blair explained.
It appears the experiment worked, shifting her public perception with younger audiences. "I needed kids to walk up and say 'You're that lady from 'S Club 7,' which is what they do now," she said. "And I like having little kids look at me. It's fun. They make these little faces."
The Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation helps animals
Linda Blair started a foundation in 2003 to support rescue animals. "I felt that the people who had resources were not stepping up to the plate enough," she explained to Hollywood Chicago. The Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation helps rescue animals abandoned by their owners, supports conservation efforts, and works against cruel sports like dog fighting. "I've made my childhood dream my adult life's work," Blair elaborated. "It is my goal to make changes in this country before I die on behalf of the animals."
Two years into the foundation's existence, they helped during an emergency. Blair traveled down to Louisiana to support animal rescue efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "I camped for 2 1/2 weeks in the back of a truck at the animal holding facility in Gonzales, Louisiana," she later wrote on LinkedIn. The Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation ultimately assisted in re-homing 350 abandoned 350.
The LBWF is still going strong, and Blair devotes the majority of her time to these efforts. On Instagram in 2023, she shared a photo of herself hugging a sad-looking dog. In the caption, Blair pointed out that widespread economic uncertainty means pet food and veterinary care are more expensive than ever, and she wrote that the LBWF helps however they can. "We refuse to turn our backs on them," she wrote, "and we invite you to stand with us in this battle against suffering."
Her Supernatural cameo poked fun at The Exorcist
In 2006, Linda Blair appeared in a Season 2 episode of "Supernatural" entitled "The Usual Suspects." She played Detective Diana Ballard, a cop investigating a case where Dean (Jensen Ackles) is accused of murder. While Diana is a fully-realized character, the episode ends by poking fun at Blair's horror history. "Did she look familiar to you?" Dean asks as they walk away, just before the credits roll. "... It's nothing. Hey, are you hungry? For some reason, I could really go for some pea soup." This is, of course, a reference to Blair's infamous vomiting scene in "The Exorcist."
Blair appeared on KTLA to promote the episode, and she revealed that the show's writers penned the investigation-heavy episode for her. The joke at the end aside, she was glad that the episode didn't deal with "Supernatural's" typical subject matter, sidestepping her horror legacy. "They knew I was apprehensive to do 'Supernatural,' with the fact the theme is usually, you know, demon hunters, vampires. I'm a fan of the show, but I was scared to do it," she said. "They wrote a one-hour special for me specifically."
At a convention in 2015, Blair told Fangasm she would love to reprise Diana, but that didn't end up happening before the show went off the air in 2020. Interestingly, if it had, an appearance on Season 12 might have had her cross paths with former flame Rick Springfield, who landed a multi-episode arc as Lucifer.
She pokes fun at The Exorcist these days
These days, Linda Blair doesn't act all that much anymore. According to IMDb, she's only had six roles since 2013, and none since 2020. Instead, she devotes her time to the Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation, never missing an opportunity to direct attention to the cause she holds most dear.
To that end, in 2022, Blair partnered with Mint Mobile for an advertising campaign that highlighted her foundation as much as it invited customers to sign up for a new mobile phone plan. In the ad, which Blair posted to Instagram, she plays a version of herself. "Some of you may know about my foundation rescuing dogs from emergency situations," she says, cuddling an adorable pooch on the porch. "I'm not only into saving pups," she continues. "I'm into saving money as well." As the ad goes on, Blair's neighbor sees his phone bill and begins vomiting something that looks suspiciously like pea soup. "Been there," Blair deadpans.
Mint Mobile's Chief Marketing Officer Aron North sang Blair's praises in an email to Fierce Wireless. "Linda is an icon in the horror movie world and was the perfect partner to help Mint showcase just how scary big wireless can be," he said, pivoting seamlessly to talking about how to support the Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation. After a long career spent seeking a way to escape "The Exorcist" while also leaning into it, it seems Blair has finally found balance.