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."