Exclusive Interview: Ryan Simpkins on ''The Exorcism'' & Exploring Trauma

Hi, Ryan. How are you? I'm great. How are you doing? I'm doing very well. I have to tell you how much I really enjoyed this movie, first off. When you first read this script, what was your initial thought about it? I was actually, when I read the script, I was resistant to doing another horror film. I've done a decent amount and I love the genre. But I was like, oh, you know, I don't know.

Maybe I'm getting a little tired of it. And then I read it and I was like, you know what? Never mind. I was like obsessed with it and I really adored the character. I felt like a pretty immediate connection to her. And I, me and my whole team agreed, like we have to do whatever we can to be a part of this movie. Well, I definitely think you are one of the people that makes this film.

Because Lee is such a complex character. And I feel like with all the characters. It's not just their character. It's almost as if they have another role to play within this exorcism that's taking place. Whether it's she's exercising her father and the death of her mother and all of those memories. So how did you get into that idea of that? Yeah, I mean, a lot of it is more than the literal.

It's about sort of like exercising this trauma that we carry. Right. And a lot of it is this generational trauma. You know, all of her father's baggage has been placed on her shoulders. And he's this, you know, patriarchal man in this patriarchal system that is like the film industry. And she's this young queer woman trying to navigate her way through it.

And forge her own path while shedding everything that he's put on her. And I mean, a lot of the complicated relationships in the film. You know, around family, around, you know, addiction and drug abuse and things felt familiar to me. And I sort of just tried to stay true to the path of like forging your own way as like a young queer person, if that makes sense.

It does. It definitely does. And I feel like that's part of what makes her who she is. But playing Lee, what affected you most about. Her innocence. Was it the queer aspect? Was it this her watching her father just deteriorate or living with the grief of losing her mother? And there's so much, like I said, she's so complicated. There's a lot. The grief actually was a was a big part of it.

I felt this. Grief for her mother and this betrayal with her father because her mother passes. And. During that time is her mother's life is like deteriorating. Her father's completely absent. And so I felt this. Deep betrayal. From this man who is now back in my life, trying to, you know, reconcile that. But I am still holding onto this grief, but through the movie, I have to let go.

I think a big part of continuing on. Throughout life is, is forgiveness and letting go. And I think that's a big. Theme in the movie. And I think that's a big. Theme in the movie. But the queerness was also like. Not in just a literal sense, but also the, the, the rebellion that is like being a queer person. And navigating like a queer life. She is constantly like faced with walls that she pushes her way through and is trying to tear down.

Which was really exciting. She was like an exciting, fun person. And a cool person while dealing with grief. You know, I love that. The line of. She's like, I'm going to be a little bit more. I'm going to be a little bit more.