Regan Teresa MacNeil (born April 7, 1959) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

from

William Peter Blatty William Peter Blatty (January 7, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American writer, director and producer. He is best known for his 1971 novel, ''The Exorcist'', and for his 1974 screenplay for the film adaptation of the same name. Blatty won ...

's horror

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

and

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

''The Exorcist'' as a supporting character and its first sequel, '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'', and the sequel television series ''The Exorcist'' as one of the main protagonists in season one. She was portrayed by

Linda Blair Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959) is an American actress and activist. She played Regan MacNeil in the horror film ''The Exorcist'' (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for an Academy Award. The film ...

in both films and by

Geena Davis Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor

in the television series.

Character

Regan MacNeil is a 12-year-old girl and the daughter of actress Chris MacNeil (played by actress

Ellen Burstyn Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...

). Regan is caught between her mother's grueling working schedule and the fact that her parents are in the process of an acrimonious

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...

(her father is in Europe and is not seen in the movie). She is named for the character of the same name in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...

''. She is described as shy, even diffident, and it is not within her nature to behave aggressively. She is devoted to her mother, making

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

animals as gifts for her and leaving a rose at her place at the kitchen table each morning. Chris is determined to be a good mother, spending all her off days with her. Because she is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, she does not teach Regan about

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

; what religious knowledge Regan has comes, without Chris's approval, from Sharon, Chris's secretary, and is general in nature. Even though Chris knows Regan very well, it takes her some time to realize that Regan's bizarre changes are not

neurological Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

. As soon as she accepts the idea of possession, she consults Fr. Karras and begs him to evaluate Regan for an exorcism. While Karras is initially skeptical, he slowly becomes convinced of her possession and eventually calls for an exorcism. Karras and Father Merrin perform an exorcism and succeed in exorcising the demon, albeit at the cost of their own lives. Regan retains no memory of her possession. Shortly afterwards, Chris and Regan decide to move. On the day of the move, Father Dyer visits their home and, upon seeing his

clerical collar A clerical collar, clergy collar, or, informally, dog collar, is an item of Christian clerical clothing. The clerical collar is almost always white and was originally made of cotton or linen but is now frequently made of plastic. There are vario ...

, Regan embraces him, implying she has not totally lost her memory. In the sequel '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'', which takes place four years after the events in ''The Exorcist'', Regan is 16 years old, living in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and undergoing

psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psy ...

therapy, claiming to remember nothing about her plight in Washington, D.C. while her psychiatrist believes her memories are only buried or repressed. As the story progresses, Regan is revealed to have psychic healing powers (the reason why the demon attacked her previously). For ''

The Exorcist III ''The Exorcist III'' is a 1990 American psychological horror film written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the third installment in the ''Exorcist'' series, an adaptation of Blatty's ''Exorcist'' novel '' Legion'' (1983), and the f ...

'',

Carolco Pictures Carolco Pictures, Inc. was an American independent film studio that existed from 1976 to 1995, founded by Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna. Kassar and Vajna ran Carolco together until 1989, when Vajna left to form Cinergi Pictures. Carolco hit ...

had the idea of a grown up Regan who gives birth to possessed twins but it was abandoned and the story was switched to Blatty's novel ''

Legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...

'' instead.

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

was asked to direct ''The Exorcist III'', but backed out when he realized

really wanted to direct himself and because of creative differences, however they remained friends. Regan MacNeil appears in the television series ''The Exorcist''. As an adult she changed her name to Angela Rance to escape the demons, but they find her again and attack her family, possessing her younger daughter Casey; Angela/Regan makes a deal with Pazuzu to allow herself to become repossessed in order to save Casey's life. While possessing her, Pazuzu seizes the opportunity to murder her mother Chris. Angela/Regan, with the help of the priests Tomas Ortega and Marcus Keane, finds the strength to once again evict the demon from her body and soul, but he retaliates by breaking her back in punishment, rendering her wheelchair-using but still alive. In December 2020, a reboot of ''The Exorcist'' was announced to be in the works from

Blumhouse Productions Blumhouse Productions (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH) is an American film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum. It is known mainly for producing horror films, such as '' Paranormal Activity'', '' Insid ...

. In July 2021, a trilogy of direct sequels to the original film were confirmed to be in development with Ellen Burstyn reprising her role as Chris MacNeil but Linda Blair took to

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

saying she has not been contacted as of yet to reprise her role of Regan MacNeil: "As of now, there has not been any discussions about me participating or reprising my role. I wish all those involved the best and I appreciate the loyalty and passion the fans have for ''The Exorcist'' and my character."

Casting (film)

Actress/comedian

April Winchell April Terri Winchell (born January 4, 1960) is an American actress, writer, and radio host. She is prehaps best known as the second and current voice of Clarabelle Cow, having voiced the character since 1996. Early life Winchell was born in 1 ...

states that she was seriously considered for the role until she developed

pyelonephritis Pyelonephritis is inflammation of the kidney, typically due to a bacterial infection. Symptoms most often include fever and flank tenderness. Other symptoms may include nausea, burning with urination, and frequent urination. Complications ...

, which caused her to be hospitalized and ultimately taken out of consideration.

Pamelyn Ferdin Pamelyn Wanda Ferdin (born February 4, 1959) is an American animal rights activist and a former child actress. Ferdin's acting career was primarily during the 1960s and 1970s, though she appeared in projects sporadically in the 1980s and later ...

was a candidate for the role, but the producers may have felt she was too well-known.

Denise Nickerson Denise Marie Nickerson (April 1, 1957 – July 10, 2019) was an American child actress. She is best known for her role as Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 film '' Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. She later played Allison on ''The Electric ...

was also considered and offered the role, but her parents rejected it on her behalf after reading the film's script.

Casting (television)

Regan MacNeil appears in the television series ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 The Exorcist (novel), novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, ...

'' portrayed by

Geena Davis Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor

In popular culture

In the ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

episode "The Usual Suspects", Linda Blair guest stars as a police detective helping them against an apparent vengeful spirit. At the end of the episode,

Dean Winchester Dean Winchester is one of the two protagonists from the American drama television series '' Supernatural'', along with his younger brother Sam. He is portrayed primarily by Jensen Ackles. Other versions of the character having been portrayed by ...

comments that Linda's character looks familiar as he suddenly craves

pea soup Pea soup or split pea soup is soup made typically from dried peas, such as the split pea. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is most often greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of pe ...

. In the popular flash game ''The Maze'' (also known as ''The Scary Maze Game'') by developer Jeremy Winterrowd, an image of Regan's possessed face is used as a

screamer The screamers are three South American bird species placed in family Anhimidae. They were thought to be related to the Galliformes because of similar bills, but are more closely related to ducks (family Anatidae),Todd, F. (1991) and most closel ...

in the final level. In the 2001 comedy horror film, '' Scary Movie 2,'' Regan and Pazuzu's characters are parodied in the

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

of the film in a satirical exorcism done by a parody of Father Karras and

Father Merrin A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fath ...

References

Notes Citations {{DEFAULTSORT:MacNeil, Regan The Exorcist Fictional characters based on real people Fictional characters from Washington, D.C. Fictional characters from New York City Fictional avatars Fictional characters with paraplegia Fictional victims of child sexual abuse Literary characters introduced in 1971 Characters in American novels of the 20th century Drama television characters Female horror film characters Horror television characters Child characters in film Teenage characters in film