Ellen Burstyn on returning as Chris MacNeil in horror film The Exorcist: Believer

The next instalment of the scariest franchise, The Exorcist, is now in theatres and is proving to be a terrifying new chapter!

Sources say Academy award winning actress Ellen Burstyn who reprises her role of Chris Macneil and dive into the world of the devil in The Exorcist: Believer, had as much of a role in imagining the journey of her character in the film as her director David Gordon Green.

Sources say that together, Green and Burstyn, imagined the journey that Chris MacNeil began after her daughter Regan’s brutal exorcism in 1973. Since the events of the first film, Chris has dedicated her life to helping others understand the phenomenon of possession—especially other parents who have gone through hardships of the unexplained.

Talking about her part in the film, Burstyn says, “Chris has had 50 years of living, and I thought,‘Who has she become? What are the experiences that happened to her in those 50 years, and how does that affect the person she is now?’ That interested me creatively. We are, in any moment of time, the sum total of everything that has happened to us and how that has become part of our character. That was an interesting challenge to explore.”

Speaking about Ellen Burstyn’s involvement in the film, producer David Robinson says, “We would have no film without Ellen. She is an extraordinary actor, and we knew what she could bring to this movie and to the rest of the cast. She is the heart of the story. Not only is she an incredible actress, but when audiences see the relationship that she has with Leslie and the children, they are so impressed.”

The Exorcist: Believer, which released in theatres worldwide on October 6, is available in India in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.