The set of “The Exorcist” has been shadowed by stories of misfortune for half a century. A fire tore through much of it during production, and one crew member lost a newborn child while the film was shooting. Ellen Burstyn, who played Chris MacNeil, has long counted those deaths and accidents among the reasons the shoot came to feel cursed.
She raised the subject again at the Venice Film Festival, where she is receiving the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. In looking back over her career, Burstyn returned to the production that helped define it — and to a disagreement with its director that she has never quite let go of.
By her account, the two of them didn’t see the shoot the same way. Burstyn recalled reuniting with director William Friedkin for the film’s 45th anniversary, where he brushed off the eerie events as “made up.”
“For some reason, he didn’t want to support that story,” she said. “So I didn’t say anything. I didn’t say he’s lying. But the fact of the matter is that it was a scary set. I can’t say I know why.”
Her restraint in that moment says a lot about how the rift has lingered. Friedkin, who died in 2023, maintained that the haunted-set legend was invented. Burstyn was there too, and she isn’t ready to explain away what she felt.
