Playing a boy possessed by the devil is no easy task. But 12-year-old Peter DeSouza-Feighoney easily wowed the producers during his audition for the role of Henry, the boy Father Gabriele Amorth, played by Oscar® winner Russell Crowe, is tasked to exorcise in The Pope’s Exorcist. The horror thriller opens in cinemas April 19.
During the disquisition, DeSouza- Feighoney mimicked the voice of the Pope, incorporating German and Italian cants, before transitioning into the unholy growls of a demon. “ We were n’t fairly set for the fact Peter had developed a demon voice, ” says patron Doug Belgrad. “ In the disquisition, he gave a performance that isn’t too different from the final performance he gives in the movie. He exceeded our prospects at every turn. ”
Inspired by the factual lines of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, The Pope’s Exorcist, directed by Julius Avery, follows Amorth as he investigates a immature boy’s intimidating possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep retired.
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“ I love horror films and I ’ve always wanted to star in one, ” says DeSouza- Feighoney. The immature actor explains that he was suitable to empathize with his character’s exploits. “ Henry’s father failed in a bus accident, and he’s traumatized – that’s why the demon is suitable to go into him – and Father Amorth is trying to get the demon out. There are corridor of the film when Henry is alive that Father Amorth is helping him – and he wants the clerk to help him – but these moments do n’t last truly long because the demon soon takes over. ”
Playing a boy held by a demon didn’t just bear acting the part; DeSouza- Feighoney had to look the part too. Practical goods and prosthetics demanded the immature actor to spend three hours in the makeup chairman, giving the immature actor a crooked nose, a prosthetic forehead with no eyebrows, and a jaw fused to his neck. “ I also had an evil grin prosthetic, which made me look constantly smiling, ” recalls DeSouza- Feighoney, who set up the whole process fairly miraculous. “ I loved getting the prosthetics done, because the finished product was really cool. ”
“ His favorite thing is playing the demon, ” shares Alex Essoe, who plays Henry’s ma Julia. “ He played an excellent little boy, but he just wanted to get on the prosthetics and talk like the demon. ”
