PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Joshua John Miller (Teen Witch; Near Dark) just made an exorcism movie, and he’s got some big shoes to fill. His father, Jason Miller, played Father Karras in the 1973 William Friedkin film, The Exorcist. Yes, that very one. For the first feature film he’s directed in 25 years, Joshua and his partner M.A. Fortin (The Final Girls) wrote the script together and this is a fun one.
A troubled actor begins to exhibit a disruptive behavior while shooting a horror film. His estranged daughter wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play.
The Exorcism is about the making of a movie, inside of the movie, and actor Adam Goldberg (Dazed and Confused) stars as the angry and often cruel director, Peter. To celebrate the film’s release, I chatted with Adam about his character in the movie, horror movies, and more!
PopHorror: Thank you so much for your time, Adam. I really appreciate it. I had a lot of fun with The Exorcism.
Adam Goldberg: Of course! Oh, cool!
PopHorror: What intrigued you about the role of Peter and made you want to be a part of the project?
Adam Goldberg: Russell (Crowe) had reached out and I think if he asked me to do whatever, just like do craft service, I probably would have done it. I read the script, and I was like, yeah, this is an awesome part. I loved the themes of the film, the sub-genre of films about people unraveling during the course of making films. It’s always been intriguing. I even made a film about that years ago. Actually, when I first met Russell during A Beautiful Mind, I was writing it. It was a no brainer. At that point, just about figuring out the best way into the character, I guess.
PopHorror: Peter isn’t the nicest of guys. Was there anything that you were adamant about bringing to your character?
Adam Goldberg: It’s been a long time. I remember – after they cast me – I sent some notes about some script things. How I thought maybe we could make it more grounded or something. Honestly, I would be kind of bullshitting if I told you exactly what those things were. I knew by the time we were shooting that it felt very organic and very real. Arguably, the guy is a bit of a hyperbole and a little bit of an archetype of the sort of the boorish megalomaniac, but I also feel it felt familiar to a lot of people on the set, I remember, so I feel like we were doing something right.
PopHorror: Just one last question for you today. What is your favorite scary movie?
Adam Goldberg: I think it’s probably Angel Heart.
PopHorror: I haven’t seen that one, but I’ve heard great things.
Adam Goldberg: Alan Parker movie with Mickey Rourke and Robert DeNiro. It’s ostensibly a film noir that ends up being a movie about the devil. It’s just a fantastic piece of filmmaking. Incredible acting. I would say Angel Heart.
PopHorror: I’ve heard it’s an accidental horror film, like it didn’t set out to be that way but it gets categorized that way.
Adam Goldberg: Right, right. That’s kind of my favorite sort of film. It’s funny, I view this that way. Now it’s called The Exorcism. It really wasn’t called that before and I get why it’s called that or whatever. Maybe more people will see it because of that but that’s how I kind of looked at this film as well. It’s a film about people, it’s a film about character. The horror stuff is kind of a vehicle, ultimately. There was another film called Don’t Look Now, from the early 70s. Famously, there’s this iconic image of this little girl in a red dress and most of the film is about tragedy and loss, and this couple’s marriage falling apart, but when that little girl turns around at the end of the fucking movie, man.
Thank you so much to Adam for taking the time to speak with us. The Exorcism is in theaters now!
