Jamie Lee Curtis recalls her mother turning down ‘The Exorcist’ role at 12

Jamie Lee Curtis, before giving her debut breakthrough performance in 1978’s Halloween, was also initially offered to give audition for the popular horror film, The Exorcist.

Producer Ray Stark wanted 12-year-old Curtis to audition for the role of the young, possessed Regen MacNeil in the 1973 classic horror film, but her late mother Janet Leigh turned down the offer.

The Freaky Friday actress recalled, how Stark called her mother to make the request.

She opened, “He called my mom and said, ‘Hey, I’m producing the movie of the book The Exorcist. Will you let Jamie audition for it?’”

“And at the time I was probably 12 and, like, cute and kind of sassy and I had some personality, and I’m sure he saw me at a party and was like, ‘Oh, she’d be funny.”

Jamie revealed on The Drew Barrymore Show that her mother just simply said, ‘No’, thinking that her daughter must experience her childhood first.

She explained, “My mom really wanted me to have – thank God – a childhood, which I understand you didn’t get. You didn’t get that option.”

Today, the 67-year-old feels grateful of her mother rejecting the offer to play the possessed character on-screen.

Later, the role was played by Linda Blair, who played it for two movies.

Reportedly, Scarlett Johansson has signed on for the upcoming reboot version of The Exorcist, which is being directed by Mike Flanagan.