from over her shoulder, and finally asked Miller to say Mass as if for the first time. Burstyn felt Miller was too short for the part, unlike her boyfriend at the time, whom Friedkin had auditioned but passed on. The director felt the test was promising but, after viewing the footage the next morning, realized Miller's "dark good looks, haunted eyes, quiet intensity, and low, compassionate voice", qualities which to him evoked John Garfield, were exactly what the part needed. The studio bought out Keach's contract. Regan Directors considered for the project were skeptical that a young actress could carry the film. Mike Nichols had turned down The Exorcist specifically because he did not believe a 12-year-old girl who could play the very stressful part could be found. The first actresses considered had been in other successful films and television series. Pamelyn Ferdin, a veteran of science fiction and supernatural drama was ultimately turned down as too familiar. Denise Nickerson, who had appeared in two roles on the horror-soap opera Dark Shadows and played Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, said in later interviews her family found the script too dark for her. Janet Leigh would not let her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, audition. Friedkin had interviewed young women as old as 16 who looked young enough to play Regan, but found none. Then Elinore Blair came in unannounced with her daughter Linda; her agency had not sent her for the part, but she had previously met with Warners' casting department. Both impressed Friedkin. Elinore was not a typical stage mother, and Linda's credits were primarily in modeling and a single soap opera role. "[S]mart but not precocious. Cute but not beautiful. A normal, happy 12-year-old girl", Friedkin later recalled. With Linda having the qualities Friedkin was looking for, he wanted to see if she could handle the material. He asked if she knew what The Exorcist was about; she told him she had read the book. "[I]t's about a little girl who gets possessed by the devil and does a whole bunch of bad things." Friedkin then asked her what sort of bad things she meant. "[S]he pushes a man out of her bedroom window and she hits her mother across the face and she masturbates with a crucifix." Friedkin then asked Linda if she knew what masturbation meant. "It's like jerking off, isn't it?", and