ABSTRACT

This essay considers the way Ellen Burstyn created the lead role of Chris MacNeil in William Friedkin’s blockbuster, The Exorcist. Analysing elements of Burstyn’s performance and her significant personal reflections on the process, as well as those of her colleagues, particularly her on-screen daughter Linda Blair, this essay provides a creative practice account of the production. This account demonstrates Burstyn’s creation of the character, revealed in Barbara Creed’s landmark analysis as the abject mother of the liminal space. In the contemporary context of the #MeToo movement, it also investigates the limits to which William Friedkin, as director, was prepared to push his cast, Burstyn and Blair in particular, in order to create a horrifying and convincing image of female monstrosity. This joint performance of director and star, I contend, is both central to Barbara Creed’s ground-breaking work and, indeed, to the power of The Exorcist as one of the most influential films in cinema history.