The team behind Fox’s The Exorcist reboot really did their research.
During the development process, the executive producers of the new drama starring Geena Davis reached out to the Catholic church in an effort to hear from real-life exorcists. But it turns out the church wasn’t eager to talk with the producers.
“We were kind of met with a stony silence,” executive producer and director Rupert Wyatt revealed at a Television Critics Association summer press tour panel Monday.
But word eventually got around and the writers were looking for someone with whom they could consult, and they were contacted by a Catholic priest in Chicago who was actually willing to meet with them. When they got together in person, the man had an explanation for the Catholic church’s radio silence.
He made it clear that it wasn’t necessarily a lack of willing[ness] to talk to us … but it really comes down to protecting the exorcists,” Wyatt explained. “They don’t like to show their faces; they don’t like to break their cover, and that comes from the fact that there are many, many potential cases than have nothing to do with what is ostensibly possession.”
Wyatt went on to say that there are a lot of people who are actually suffering from alcoholism, schizophrenia and other psychological illnesses whose families mistakenly believe that they are possessed. “But that’s not the case,” said Wyatt, adding of the reason the exorcists’ mostly stay under the radar: “They can be really hounded and chased by members of the public, so they keep to themselves.”
Read it all. The trailer for the new series is below.
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