While you're in the moment of anything that's confusing in your life, you're in the moment, and you have to figure it out. You can go up or down. And I just kept working on the higher road, and trying. I got very involved with medication.

I was lucky. I had some really good people that were just here there and wherever who would come into my life that I felt would answer questions. I mean, I had some very powerful questions myself for what this earth was all about.

Of all the projects I've worked on, I've never worked with another director like Billy Friedkin. I think he's a genius.

Warner Brothers had to hire [a stunt double] and no one thought a child could do this. Billy Friedkin came to me before we were filming [The Exorcist] and said "if you do not do all of this film, the film will be a joke." It's why they stripped the makeup down to the bare minimum, a piece on my chin, piece across my mouth that disfigured my mouth. You have scars here. Take away my eyebrows. It was my real hair. Shampoo was put in it that dried.

People need to understand; I may have been very innocent. Didn't understand the devil. Didn't understand any of that. You can only push a child so far. You have laws; number one. And number two; I had been doing this so long, I could say now that I don't want to do something. But after a certain while, they knew when they had pushed their luck with me, and that it was time to, you know, maybe back off.

When I was thirteen I basically asked my mother if it was possible for this to end, that I'd had enough of it. And I truly had had enough. And that was right about the time that we got a call for a movie interview.

Of course The Exorcist changed my entire life. I don't think there are very many people that will have the experience of sitting in this room, doing a job, and the next thing you know you've been on every television camera around the world, and people are they're frightened of you.