The Exorcism: David Hyde Pierce Freaked Himself Out Researching for New Film

Preparing for a movie can sometimes involve a lot of research, and apparently for David Hyde Pierce, researching his role in the new meta-horror movie The Exorcism was a little frightening. Not so much the monster or horror elements — but more the spirituality, which he said appeals to a small part of our brains that wonders whether by uttering a certain incantation, we might be inviting trouble. It doesn’t make logical sense, but there’s something undeniably powerful about the idea.

Pierce admitted, “The first time I picked up the Catholic ritual for exorcism and started reading it — I wasn’t even reading it aloud, I was just reading it in my brain — and I stopped and I thought, ‘If I keep reading this, is something bad going to happen in the middle of the living room? Is somebody going to appear?’”

“I think it’s because of movies like The Exorcist. We all have that in our bloodstream, or a million movies like it that have come since,” Pierce added. “This world of, ‘Oh, don’t say the wrong thing or you’ll open up a whole universe.’ That used to be how people lived in the Middle Ages or whatever — that’s how they saw the world — but we’ve got the entertainment world to bring that alive again. I think the reason these movies work is because there’s some part of us that goes, ‘Is that possible? Is that going to happen?’”

There’s quite a bit of stuff to dig into. According to the director of The Exorcism, he and his co-writer originally published it as a true story about the making of The Exorcist — a movie in which his father starred.

Of course, both the movie The Exorcist and the events that inspired it are pretty well-documented. Over the years, while there may never have been a movie about the making of The Exorcist, there have been countless film and video interviews that provide fans with a lot of insight. In 2014, filmmakers Christopher Saint Booth and Philip Adrian Booth made The Exorcist File, a documentary about the cast that inspired the movie, which was filmed partially on site at the house where the exorcism in question actually took place. You can find that movie on Tubi and Prime Video.

In The Exorcism, Academy Award winner Russell Crowe stars as Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play.

The Exorcism will be in select theaters next Friday, June 21.