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MEDIA: Olivia, your director Mark Neveldine was talking about your level of commitment to the role, and said you were so method that you believed you were possessed...
OLIVIA: What did he say in here? [laughs] Ummm...Well, I don't know about that, but it was intense. I wasn't sleeping well, I was having nightmares. It was fun. But I had nightmares the night I read the script, so I knew that I was in for it, yeah.
Mark also said that you were game for being chained to a wall for hours on end...
MICHAEL: She slept there, dude! I was like, "Are you really going to do that?"
OLIVIA: [laughs] Hell yeah I was game for it! That's one of the reasons why I wanted to take the role. I mean, like, there's the choking scene, and I was really being choked...And it didn't look real enough, so then Mark had to jump in and put his hand on there. Chains...I had bruises for weeks on my wrists from that. I was really sick when we were done. I was so sick! I forgot about that. It really wears out your body! [laughs]
What scenes were involved in your audition? Did you have to play out a whole possession?
OLIVIA: No, we didn't get into that in the audition phase. I think it was probably just a scene between me and John Amedori. I don't even remember. No possession, though! I wasn't screaming or anything like that.
 
Michael, did you do anything like shadow a priest to prepare for your role?
MICHAEL: No, I just went to Catholic school since I was a little kid, and I had a lot of priests in my life. You know, there was this one guy, a Polish guy...I lived in a low income area, and there was a lot of crime, a lot of poor people. But this one Polish guy would just walk around--everyone knew he was a priest--and it takes a lot of guts to do that. But he was a normal guy, you know? He wasn't acting holy or whatever, but he always did talk to you about spirituality. And so I kind of based it off him...Everybody liked to talk to him...He had that gift that he just made everyone feel at ease. And stylistically, just because I've seen so many movies like this [where] the priest is so holy...I was like, "Well, this is a different generation. Why don't we just do somebody who's normal?"
We often hear about strange things happening on the sets of horror movies like this. Any weird, otherworldly phenomenon on this one?
MICHAEL: Looks like you want there to be, dude. [laughs]
OLIVIA: The locations were scary. We filmed in an abandoned psych ward, and that lent itself to a bunch of creepy stuff. I mean, people were seeing people in the windows that weren't there, and hearing voices...
MICHAEL: I remember the first day of shooting, somebody broke their leg. It was a stunt guy. And it's so weird, those stunt guys, by the way, because they'll break a leg, they're like, [casually annoyed] "Dammit!" But people were oddly getting hurt, getting sick. And then I remember Neveldine, he's like, "Dude, what's going on over here?" I'm like, "I don't know, man, but don't give it any more energy, or whatever's going on."
OLIVIA: Yeah, I tried not to think about it. It only made it worse.
What are your thoughts on the phenomenon of possession?
MICHAEL: [jokes] I don't like possession.
OLIVIA: [jokes] Yeah, I could take it or leave it. [laughs] You know, I grew up in a really spiritual household. My parents were Catholic, and I went to church when I was younger. But I believe in supernatural forces, and I believe in good and evil, and I've always believed that exorcisms are real. And a lot of times, they're not real, documented cases--some of them are just people who are losing their mind a little bit. But I definitely believe that it's possible.
MICHAEL: I believe so as well. I did grow up in a religious household. And you know, the Pope last year said that he believes that the Antichrist is on earth. That doesn't help.
OLIVIA: [laughs] Doesn't help you sleep at night...
MICHAEL: No, literally, you're going to sleep, I'm putting my kid to bed, and I'm like, "Why would he say that? What does he know that I don't?"
Would you consider yourselves horror fans, and if so, what are some favorites from the genre?
MICHAEL: I love horror movies. The ones that, when I was a kid, I thought were done so well...Nightmare on Elm Street. Friday the 13th. Rosemary's Baby. The Shining.
OLIVIA: Rosemary's Baby. The Exorcist. The Shining's so good! Omen. The classics.
In The Last Exorcism, Ashley Bell did her character's physical contortions because she's crazy double jointed. Were you able to do a lot of Angela's twisting and bending?
OLIVIA: [laughs] I did a lot of physical stuff, but I can't bend in half. There's some CG. But not much. [pauses] This shoulder, you know...I can pop it out. No, I'm just kidding.
Some people can totally do that!
OLIVIA: Yeah, my sister's like that.
MICHAEL: Like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon! [laughs]
Were you fairly comfortable with all the physicality?
OLIVIA: Yeah! I mean, I've done quite a few films where I do the stunts. And I love harness work. I love doing that. It's a fun part of the job.
How would you characterize Mark as a director?
MICHAEL: He's crazy.
OLIVIA: Yeah. [laughs]
MICHAEL: Like, he does unconventional things. The way he shoots--on roller blades being one of them.
OLIVIA: He moves fast!
MICHAEL: Yeah, he's quick and he's very nimble, and can go back and forth and everywhere. And it was pretty awesome to shoot with that. You know, there's some shots in The Shining, with the red floor, and then you see the twins? But he, because he's on roller blades, can do that much faster. And so it really feels like something else which is new. And especially in tight quarters. I think he accomplished something that I thought was really cool.
OLIVIA: I got on roller blades! At one point, Mark and I were both on roller blades.
MICHAEL: Chasing me.
OLIVIA: Yep! That was the first day we worked together on set, was I was chasing you on roller blades! [laughs]
Did this movie have an extensive rehearsal period?
OLIVIA: We had quite a bit of rehearsal before. Mostly just work going over the script and stuff. By the time we got on set, we knew exactly what we were doing. But it was just a lot of going through the scenes with the other actors and getting to know each other when we were there. Because we had so much to do in such a little amount of time, I think the rehearsals really helped.
Thanks for your time...
OLIVIA: Thank you.
MICHAEL: Yeah, right on! You guys have a good one.
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