peter travers book

According to Blatty, the signing of Jason Miller, the Pulitzer Prize- winning playwrite, for the role of Father Karras, was another stumble discovery. "We were kicking around names like Gene Hackman. Billy would say - "Well, you're an idiot and too close to your own work!" I also thought Marlon Brando would be perfect, but Billy resisted him from the very beginning. After I saw The Godfather, I knew that Billy was right. We needed a face that hadn't been seen before. Still, every priest thinks he is Karras, and every actor thinks he can play him."
Where Jason Miller was concerned , however, Billy Friedkin seemed more than 100 percent: "This guy is going to explode on film! He has one of the strongest screen presences since Garfield, Clift, and James Dean. He also has all the training and background. I would have to send another actor to Catholic school for at least a year for indoctrination. Jason went to Catholic University and studied withthe Jesuits. He knows all the ritual work for the part. I'll tell yo, everyone in Hollywood wanted to name him. Instinctively, I felt it had to be an unknown. I didn't want a guy whose personal life would precede the role. So I started looking for unknowns. I would look at movies on TV, go to off-Broadway plays. I would talk to anyone who was recommended to me. While I was in New York conducting this search, I went by accident to see That Championship Season, and the fellow I was with and his wife knew Jason Miller. They said he was a pretty good actor as well as a playwright, and that he was raised a Catholic. That intrigued me, so I asked the casting director to get hold of him. He came to see me at the Sherry Netherland." Billy paused to show a look of disgust before continuing. "It was a terrible meeting! I was sick and had all these vitamin pills around, and I think he was stoned. I looked at him and thought he was a junkie. He came in, saw all the pills, and must have thought I was some kind of pill freak. We had a very tense meeting and I was not all that impressed with him. I didn't even like him much, but I couldn't find anyone else. He kecpt gnawing away at my consciousness. So I spoke to him again, gave him the script, and we had a very intelligent discussion. I thought OK, I'll shoot a test of the guy just cause I have nothing better to do. he shot a beautiful with Ellen in Hollywood, and that's how he got the part. It was almost like it was meant to happen."

Pic for ya Sof!

EM, let me know when come on , please

Hey Emmi!! I just rented a movie and am going to watch it right now. It's 11p.m here. I'll be back in two hours. Will you be on??
I hope so :DD
xxxxxx

Oh, Sofi! I have to tell you!

Jason's friend Tom Flannery answered my email and he's going to answer interview questions! I need help to think of good ones. I don't want to blow my shot. :DDD

About the order

I think that our blog is kind of confusing lol! When you edit my passages, you could just type your name above the text you write. I think it would be better. :))

Cover

I'm back! Please tell me you're on!

Lol you edited the name. sorry, I forgot, Emee!!

Third Chapter - behavioral changes

EMEE'S EDIT:

Chris entered the kitchen with a weary sigh.
"C'mon, Regan!"
"Sharon? What's up?"
"She won't eat. She hasn't eaten all day."
Chris circled the table, and stroked her daughter's hair tenderly. She looked at the milk glass and stew that hadn't been touched.
"You're not hungry, babe?"
"No."
Sharon was glaring.
"She wouldn't do her school work either."
"Don't you feel well?"
She was silent.
Chris observed her daughter, worriedly. The child's body was alive with small twitches. She fidgeted. Something small on the table had her attention. She fiddled with it as if hypnotized. I should make an appointment with a Doctor, Chris reminded herself.
"She threw her notebook at me today, as well."
Abruptly, Regan stood up from her chair in fury. "You're a liar!" She pointed her accusation at Sharon with a trembling finger.




Early on the evening of 9th April, Chris returned home from work exhausted.

Nothing comes out of my mind Emee!! Oh no! ;)

The house was immersed in the silence. Where's everybody? Chris thought.
She heard voices coming from the kitchen.

I have to go for an hour :(( Will you still be here?

K, I'll write the ideas ..... loli.

Chris goes to the kitchen and finds Sharon trying to make Regan eat. She informs Chris that Regan hasn't eaten all day, Chris strokes her daughters hair lovingly, and asks if she's not hungry. Regan says, no, she isn't. Sharon tells Chris that Regan also refused to do her schoolwork exercises, and even threw something at Sharon. While Sharon tells this, Regan is nervously touching something. Her body fidgety and alive with small, restless movements. She stands up and yells, "Liar!!" (to Sharon) ;))

What you think?

Lol, I typed Lair!! And Shirl at the beginnin! ohh god, it's that I'm so used to think of her as Chriss

Third Chapter edit

Cold, dim light assaulted Chris' eyes. But it wasn't that which woke her. A voice was shouting, "Momma, Mommy! Come here! -"
Confusion paralyzed her no more as she leaped from the bed and sprinted down the hall. She flung open the door. Regan, standing in her nightgown, in the middle of her room, her face shocked and bewildered, said, "Someone moved all my furniture around, Mommy! It's all in different places!"
"What happened?" Chris asked Karl who was pushing a pink and white bureau to it's proper place, halfway across the room.
"Someone is funny." He replied dully.
"It must have been someone in this house." Chris said to Regan.
"I didn't move it." Regan said in a small voice.
There was not the slightest doubt in Chris' mind who had done it. Karl or Willie would never do such a thing. Sharon didn't sleep in the house.
It was Regan herself.
Oh, Christ, why would she do this? To get my attention?

Third Chapter

I’d like to see these first behavioral changes of Regan in dialogues and narrative.

From the book: "Fits of temper. Threw things. Kicked things. Wouldn't eat... in addition her energy seemed abnormal. She was constantly moving, turning, running and jumping about. Doing poorly with schoolwork..."

This was based on Blatty's first draft screenplay:
"Displacement of furniture"

Chris awoke abruptly by a cold, dim light and by a voice that was shouting, “Momma!” She got up from her bed, and ran down the hall to Regan’s bedroom. When she flung open the door, she saw Regan standing in her nightgown, her face shocked and puzzled.
"Someone moved all my furniture around, Mommy! It's all in different places!"
"What happened?" Chris asked Karl, who was in the bedroom pushing a pink and white bureau back into place from a spot that was halfway across the room.
"Someone is funny." He repeated.
"A person in this house must have moved it," Chris said to Regan.
"I didn't move it." Regan said in a small voice.
There was no doubt in Chris's mind of who had moved the furniture. Karl and Willie wouldn't do such a thing. Sharon didn't sleep in the house. There was only one answer - Regan did it herself! But why? To get my attention??

First chapter extension 2 edit

The following day when she came home from her day’s filming, she found Regan in the kitchen surrounded by paste papers and crayons. The child reached up and flung herself upon her mother.
“What're ya drawin', baby?” Chris asked, kissing her daughter’s face.
“Oh, you, me and Daddy when we were in Rome.” She smiled.
Rome. Chris remembered. Two years ago they had spent a wonderful time there, in a cottage, with woods and trees and miles of grass all around them. Howard had made them huge swings… and is that what she’s drawing? Yes it is. Regan on her mother’s lap, Howard pushing the swing really high.
"Finish your math already?"
"Yep."
"That's my baby. Whadda ya want to do now?"
Regan thought, nibbling her lips.
"I'm going to write a poem!" she announced her burst of inspiration.
"What a good idea." Chris smiled serenely at the happy child. Does she know her freckles dance when she smiles like that? Does she know how much I love her that it kills me to leave the house every morning?
"What's the poem going to be about?"
"You!"
"Me? You can't think of anything more interesting?"
Regan snickered shaking her head, making her red hair swirl as if a halo.
"'K, Sweetheart. Have fun."
Her cheeks were flushed strawberry pink from laughing. Her eyes so alive. You are having fun, aren't you, Rags?
The telephone rang.
Sharon had popped her head in silently. “It’s for you, Chris.”
"Who is it?"
"Agent."
"Ugh." Can he sense me having a good time? Why does that bastard want to snatch my daughter's laughter from me?
Sharon snapped her head out of the doorway and walked down the hall. Chris shifted her eyes to Regan.
"I'm sorry, baby. Why don't you write your poem and I'll be back in a few minutes to read it?"
"Okay."
"I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail. Promise."
I wish those people would leave you alone, Momma. I miss you! Regan smiled a little to protect her mother from her disappointment.

"What's up?" She sat in her office, in her comfortable chair. Cozy. Hateful. He droned on for almost an hour. I'm giving him 10% for this? What?
"What?! You're kidding! Well to Hell with that!"
Regan walked across the room toward her mother.
"Momma... I finished. Read it. Momma?"
Chris dug her nails into the arm of the chair.
"Wait, Regan... What? No, not you. I don't care what he wants, I've worked too damn hard to-"
"Momma... Please read it. I made it just for you. I-" Regan’s voice mingled with the agent’s voice. Chris felt her scalp tightening and a sudden impulse to run from the house.
"Don't you see I'm on the phone?!" She shouted.
Regan pulled back. Shaking. Her poem trembled in her hands. She turned, and ran from the room.
"I'll call you back... When I'm good and ready, THATS when!"
She nearly broke the phone's cradle as she slammed it down. Goddamn it!

First Chapter extention 2

and the following day (Thursday instead of Sunday). This is where my addition begins --- when she came home from her day’s filming, she found Regan in the kitchen. The child was flinging herself upon her mother.
“What're ya drawin', baby?” Chris asked, kissing her daughter’s face.
“Oh, you, me and Daddy when we were in Rome.” She smiled.
Rome. Chris remembered. Two years ago they had spent a wonderful time there, in a cottage, with woods and trees and miles of grass all around them. Howard had made them huge swings… and is that what she’s drawing? Yes it is. Regan on her mother’s lap, Howard pushing the swing really high.

Hmm, then Regan could start writing a poem for Chris when Sharon interrupts them, telling Chris that her agent is on the phone. While she talks to him, Regan is running her tongue around her lips trying to get the letters just right. When she's done, she brings the poem to her mom who is not in a very good mood now ;)) She's still talking to the guy and is pissed off over something ( I have to think of what later. Maybe something Shirley would get upset about, hehe) . But Regan is so eager to show her the poem, that she doesn't realize her mother is busy and keeps saying, " I finished, Mama. Read it, read it..." Finally Chris loses her temper and shouts: "Don't you see I'm on the phone?!" Regan pulls back, shivering, bewildered.

This passage could end with Chris feeling guilty.
Do you think what I wrote is kinda cliché?
Lemme know what you think, s'il vous plait :D

Trip to Washington part 1

Sunday
The recent cold spell that hit the Eastern seaboard finally snapped that very day. The air was crisp, frigid. Chris left the house with a warmly bundled Regan and gingerly placed her daughter in the passenger seat of her Jaguar XKE.

This part should follow with them arriving the Lincoln Memorial. They could be running, or something and when they finally reached the place, they're both out of breath. Whaddya think?
=)

On the cherry blossom lagoon:
"They spent hours on the lawn, reading, telling kid's jokes... "

(I thought the freckles joke is funny. But if you come up with something else, let me know!) :D

...“Nah," Chris replied. "I don’t even have freckles!”
“Yes, you do!” Regan snickered. “An’ they’re not fake.”
She slowly descended to her knees, bringing her smiling face close to Chris. Her sea blue-green eyes squinted as she studied the burst of freckles on her mother’s face.
“Okay!” Chris broke into laughter. “See for yourself. They’re fake!”
Regan put her finger to Chris’s cheek. “They don't come out! You’ve got one...two...three...”
“That’s because they’re very well glued, honey.”
“Hey," said Chris. "Stand over there with the water behind you. I want to take another picture.” Regan ran to the spot where Chris pointed and smiled at the camera. Chris couldn’t get over that smile...

First Chapter extention 1

The novel starts on April 1st, Friday, but since it's set in 1969 it should be a Tuesday. I'd love to extend the first chapter to a week long and see more of normal Regan. :)

Some people complain that there's little description of the settings and surroundings, so when Chris comes home from work, I described the kitchen. What do you think? ;)

What I extended is in bold.

For the last three years, she had been tutor to Regan and social secretary to Chris.
Chris paused by the door to switch on the light. Gray Formica-topped counters and the polished stainless steel sink immediately reflected the dazzle from the electric light.
“Oh, the usual crock.” she sauntered to the table and began to sift messages. “Anything exciting?”