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Gina Gershon’s Take on The Exorcist Will Surprise You

7 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief monologue, Gina Gershan recounts meeting director William Friedkin while working on the film Killer Joe, expressing her excitement as a longtime fan of The Exorcist. She relates the film to her personal life, describing how her 14‑year‑old stepdaughter was going through a turbulent, hormone‑driven phase that felt like living with a demon. Gershan interprets The Exorcist as a metaphor for adolescent hormonal upheaval, while Friedkin insists the story is literally about demonic possession. The exchange highlights the clash between a personal, symbolic reading of the horror classic and the director’s straightforward supernatural intent, delivered in a conversational, slightly amused tone.

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When I met Bill Friedkin, William Friedkin, to do Killer Joe, I was so excited because I'm like obsessed with The Exorcist. And then at the time I was— I kind of had a stepdaughter, you know, I was living— I was in a new relationship and the girl was 14, really going through it. And she had a lot of other issues that were going on, you know, but she was just like, ah, living with this demon. I'm like, oh my God, I get it. The Exorcist, you're such a genius. It's about a hormonal girl, like So smart. And I'm going on and on and on, and he's just like, nope, it's about a girl who's possessed by the devil. I'm like, same thing, you know. That's funny.