MovieChat Forums > The Exorcist III (1990) Discussion > Brad Dourif / Jason Miller

Brad Dourif / Jason Miller

posted 8 years ago by Doom
14 replies | jump to latest

After checking out the awesome link that apollo86 posted (and thanks again):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVlj4T78vFg

I guess we're hearing some background info there that we've never heard before, right?

So Brad Dourif is saying that after filming all of his scenes, the studio didn't want him in the film after all - or rather, they really wanted Jason Miller - because of his obvious connection with the first film.

Then he makes it sound like he was going to be left out of the film entirely - were it not for the fact that Jason Miller wasn't able to completely take over the role (due to his alcoholism).

Is that how you're hearing what he says there? So that's why we ended up with both Jason Miller and Brad Dourif in the film (albeit with Dourif having to have his scenes re-filmed due to the changes in the set that were made after Jason Miller finally signed on, etc.)

I've seen Miller's Tale (if you're into Jason Miller, you should really check it out, it's great: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825074/combined) and I don't in any way doubt what Dourif said. To me it's quite clear Jason Miller went back to Scranton and more or less drank himself to death, but I just never realized at some point there may have been a plan to have Jason Miller in the film on his own and Brad Dourif never to be seen.

Pretty interesting stuff.

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Wait a minute... who am I here?

[–] d3rp 8 years ago

it will be interesting to see dourif scenes in slightly more claustrophobic isolation cell. unfortunatly it seems that this is exactly what they are partially filling with re-shoots. unless seemingly unaltered scenes that appear in both versions were in fact edited diffrently so they can refer to that. anyway who knows, maybe someday we will see all the footage.
another interesting observation is that unlike in the final version, dourif was originally meant to be seen as physically identical to karras. i assume that's why blatty decided not to shoot flashback scenes depicting gemini killer's childhood - it wouldn't make sense to cast some kid resembling dourif and casting someone looking completely diffrent would most likely confuse the viewers.

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

Poor Dimmy... I mean, poor Jason. Alcoholism is a demon of its own. What a hell of a movie it would have been if Miller had been given the story as his own film - if only he had been healthy enough to carry it off. Of course, then we would be missing Dourif's impeccable performance as James Vennamun/the Gemini. Ironically, in the film we do have, we seem to have the best of both worlds - a bit of Miller as both the Gemini and as Karras, and then of course Dourif as the Gemini...

[–] apollo86 8 years ago

You're more than welcome Doom, all that interesting info was too good not to share :) Plus with so many of the cast having passed away it's rare to see stuff like this. All those extras on the new release will certainly give more clarity!

That's pretty much my interpretation of what he was saying too, although I read that Miller was always intended to be in the movie but a scheduling conflict prevented him from being in it at time of original shoot, forcing Blatty to recast Dourif in the role (there is an early trailer where Dourif can be heard saying Karras's "come into me" dialogue.)

When the re-shoots were being done then Miller was available again. I always assumed Dourif was kept because Blatty liked his performance and wanted it in the film, coming up with the "eyes of faith" concept, but is sad to think it came about because of Miller's inability to complete the role. Hopefully there won't be any jarring inconsistencies in the new cut, like scenes in the 2 different cell sets being used. The fact that the footage they have was incomplete could have brought up such challenges.

It really is a shame Miller didn't have a longer and more satisfying screen career, he had an excellent look and presence about him, "the camera loved him", as Friedkin has said. His portrayal of Karras ranks as one of the greatest screen debuts in my mind. It's impossible for me to read the book and not picture him as Karras.

Have seen the trailer for Miller's Tale, would love to see the whole thing. Is it available for sale anywhere?

[–] Doom 8 years ago

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find it recently anywhere, but I'm still looking.

I had purchased it when it first came out, but it appears those URLs are no longer active.

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Wait a minute... who am I here?

[–] hannahrose313 8 years ago

Just finished watching, and I would've much preferred it if Dourif wasn't in the film at all. His and Millers back and forth seemed messy, and Dourif seemed out of place. Despite negative reviews, I thought this was a well done picture, and it kept my interest well...but started to fall apart for me around Dourif's second monologue. It dragged on, and was so obviously filmed seperate. I'm sure this will upset people as the actor has a strong fan base, and this is in no way a mark against his performance...rather against the film makers who seemed confused in what they were doing towards the end.

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

I'm not sure what offends you about the second monologue, because that's where the Gemini explains the entire reason for "Karras'" return and the new crime spree in Georgetown: "Certain parties" were "expelled from the body of a child" by Damien Karras; "certain parties were not pleased, to say the least - to say the very least"; and they created a plot, a "scandal to all men who seek faith", that is, to use "the body of this saintly priest" to carry out the Gemini's work; and that "your friend Karras" is "here inside with us", watching "as I tear and rip and mutilate! His pain won't end!".

Here we have a complete explanation of what Karras is doing back on the scene, why he mostly speaks like the Gemini Killer (except for brief "breaks" when he speaks as himself when the Gemini is dormant - "Bill...help me, Bill... Save your servant ... kill it!").

It explains that "Pazuzu"/the vengeful demon from the original story, captured Karras' ascending soul and stuffed it back into his body, along with the soul of James Vennamun/the Gemini - which new situation made Karras himself the object of rescue by Kinderman and Morning. They not only had to expel the Gemini, they also had to somehow liberate Damien Karras and send him on his way Heavenward.

Since these essential explanatory factors and bits of information form the bulk of Vennamun's/Dourif's second dialogue, I am at a loss as to why you feel they are forced and unnecessary. Granted, as you say, it could have been filmed only with Miller as both Karras and Vennamun, but sadly Blatty knew that Miller's alcoholism would not permit the actor to carry the entire performance: hence Dourif coming in for most of Vennamun's actual self-descriptive dialogue.

If you are saying that the second monologue would have worked if only Miller performed it, I would agree. But I don't agree that the extremely explanatory lines written both for Karras and Vennamun were in any way superfluous or redundant.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 8 years ago

It's interesting that we wound up with a cut that was basically a compromise between the first cut (Dourif as Karras) and the second cut (Miller as Karras). The whole "eyes of faith" premise was created after the fact in order to have Miller reprise his role as Karras while keeping some of Dourif's scenes.

This accident of post-production was one of the few things that improved the film, since I don't think it would have worked nearly as well with only a single actor in the role. However, if we were to have only a single actor as Karras (and no separate actor for the Gemini Killer's spirit), I'd rather have Miller alone. Much as I like Dourif and enjoy his performance, having Miller as Karras was critical for continuity with the first Exorcist, particularly since the film has new actors playing Kinderman and Dyer.

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

I'd rather have Miller alone. Much as I like Dourif and enjoy his performance, having Miller as Karras was critical for continuity with the first Exorcist, particularly since the film has new actors playing Kinderman and Dyer.

Yeah, me, too. I love Jason Miller as Karras and would have been mesmerized had he played both Karras-returned and the Gemini all the way through. Posts here lately cite Dourif saying that Blatty couldn't use Miller for the full role because Miller's alcoholism prevented it from happening... but after all, in retrospect, I wonder about how demanding that role really was? It required virtually no physical prowess, and judging by the performance-time that Miller did put in, maybe Blatty cutting him that much slack was the right dramatic/narrative thing to do...otoh, I wasn't there; Blatty and Miller were friends; I don't know how ill Miller really was, and what contractual obligations Dourif-Blatty may have had to keep Dourif's part intact; and maybe Miller himself said, "Bill, I'm sorry, but I just can't do any more than the minimal scripting I already have here in front of me"...

[–] apollo86 8 years ago

If what Dourif has said is accurate (to be honest I was a bit taken aback with Dourif's brutal honesty here), I would say it was more to do with Miller not being able to concentrate and remember his lines, as those Gemini monologues are lengthy and do a lot of heavy-lifting in relation to the story, especially the second one.

As alcoholism is known to affect concentration and memory it could have simply been that all of that dialogue was too much for Miller to recite at that stage of his life. This seems to be what led them from excising Dourif completely to asking him to come back. This created a dilemma for Blatty so he opted to keep both and came up with the "eyes of faith" concept during the re-shoots out of necessity.

Either way, it worked out well in the end, as we got the best of both worlds- a familiar face to tie the film close with the original, and an outstanding performance from Dourif. After 2 major re-castings already in the film, the third with Dourif as Karras was a bit too far, the film badly needed a familiar face. Perhaps this also could have been suggested at early test-screenings as well, prompting them to seek out Miller.

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

Thanks for your input...yes, concentration, as you said, would be one of alcoholism's worst casualties. And, again as you said, it's great that we have Jason Miller back in the first place. I doubt that audiences could have successfully dealt with a new Dourif-Karras, a new Scott-Kinderman, a new Joe Dyer. So Miller's presence was a strong anchor point which also provided resonance with the Friedkin film, thus enabling audiences to process Exorcist III's novel elements.

[–] apollo86 8 years ago

Indeed, it's becoming more apparent as time goes on that the film Blatty originally delivered did benefit from at least some of the changes made in post-production.

As good an actor as Dourif can be, I can't help but feel he was badly miscast as Karras. He just has that certain quirky look which often led to him being cast in villainous/weirdo roles, especially around the time of Exorcist 3, when he was in between Child's Play 1 and 2. Funnily, the opening scene of Urban Legends has a neat scene with Dourif where this image is turned on its head.

His casting as Karras also creates a bit of an age anomally in that Dourif was in his late 30's at the time it was made. In the novel it is alluded to that despite everything else going on, Karras's body is aging normally and isn't stuck in some state of paranormal stasis. This would have placed Dourif's Karras as a much younger man in his early to mid 20's during the events of the original.

As convincing and impressive Dourif was as the Gemini, I wouldn't have bought him at all as the Jesuit hero.

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

Yeah, I would never have accepted Dourif as Karras, even though Blatty tried to establish it by refilming the MacNeil exorcism with Dourif as Karras...too much of a disconnect between the two actors. Although I do have some curiosity about what those Dourif-as-Karras scenes looked like...

[–] apollo86 8 years ago

That's the first I've ever heard of the actual exorcism scene being re-shot, would be curious to see the source of that info. I know there is an early teaser with someone else (maybe Dourif) saying the "take me, come into me" dialogue. Even in the Theatrical version we can see he at least re-shot the window jump from the outside and the fall down the steps.

I also believe there was a prologue scene shot with Dourif laid out in the morgue, as pictures of that are available online and that scene will also be on the new Bluray as an extra. Obviously they would have had to re-create the exorcism room and re-cast someone as Regan, and maybe Merrin as well, surprised there isn't more info about this if it was shot.

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

Yeah, he could have shot around Merrin, having a lookalike lying "dead" on the floor, and maybe done it another lookalike for Blair... Merrin's dead, and Regan doesn't have any lines beyond the giggle and the demon noises, which could all be dubbed in - so the scene could have been shot (and I would love to see it if any part of it still exists). Yes, I've seen that morgue shot online, too, but the face in that particular shot is obscured so I can't really tell who it is. Also the actor lying on the slab seems more heavy-bodied than Dourif, which at first made me think that it was actually Miller (but that would mean that Miller had already been hired for that assumptively early scene) - so I don't know...