In the early 2000s, parody films were all the rage among teens who weren’t allowed to see the movies they were actually spoofing. One of the biggest franchises consisted of the Scary Movie films, which made fun of every horror movie ever, including The Exorcist.
As it turns out, Marlon Brando was originally slated to play a priest who performs an exorcism on Natasha Lyonne’s possessed character. While the role later went on to James Woods and Andy Richter, Lyonne looks back fondly on her moments with Brando in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“I have a VHS copy of the dailies that I got because Marlon Brando’s final role — sadly for him, but luckily for me — is doing this Exorcist opening teaser,” Lyonne recalled. She joked, “I don’t know what he was thinking, really.”
The Russian Doll actress then told the story of how the legendary actor had to hold her boob, as per the script. She recalled the exchange:
He had an oxygen tank and he just kind of held my boob, because that was in the script. He was supposed to be like, ‘The power of Christ compels you’ and he just held on. I was in this full monster makeup. I just remember being like, ‘Ah, this is the surrealism that André Breton, Salvador Dali were talking about.’
I had Brando with the earpiece and the hand on the boob, and the makeup. This was all happening at once, and I remember like, ‘You know, showbiz is all right.’ In that moment, showbiz was A-okay. Then he dropped out because of health reasons, and I got the dailies.
Though Brando didn’t end up in the film (he passed away a few years later) Lyonne will always have a memory of him getting to second base, and that’s priceless! Lyonne also joked that she and Richter remained friends after shooting. “Andy Richter and I still do bits about it. So, all told, a fine experience.”