Davis will play the mother of a girl who she fears is being tormented by a malevolent entity. The series has been described as a modern reinvention of The Exorcist story as it was presented in William Blatty’s 1971 novel — the inspiration for the 1973 film that won two Academy Awards and was nominated for another eight that year.
According to the announcement made by Fox, Davis will portray a character named Angela Rance in the series. Her character’s official description reads as follows: “Naturally beautiful, regal, and proud but weighed down by stress, Angela Rance does everything she can to stay positive and keep her faith even though her family is currently struggling. She can’t help but think, however, if perhaps her nightmares about a demon are a sign of what’s wrong.”
Davis, who won the Academy Award in 1989 for her supporting role in The Accidental Tourist and was nominated again in 1992 for her leading role in Thelma & Louise, joins a cast that appears to be filling out quite nicely.
Already cast in the series are Law & Order: UK and House of Cards actor Ben Daniels in the role of Father Marcus, Sense8 actor Alfonso Herrera as Father Tomas, and Hannah Kasulka and Brianne Howey as the children of Angela Rance, Casey and Charlotte. (Howey plays the daughter who appears to be afflicted by demonic possession.)
The pilot episode for The Exorcist was penned by The Lazarus Effect screenwriter Jeremy Slater and will be directed by Rise of the Planet of the Apes filmmaker Rupert Wyatt.
While Davis is a celebrated actress across all genres, she’s played quite a few memorable roles in horror movies over the years. Along with playing a ghost in Tim Burton’s 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice, she also starred opposite Jeff Goldblum in David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake of The Fly.
There’s no word on when production will begin on The Exorcist at this point, or when the project will premiere on Fox.
