Cast and Crew of 'The Rite' on What They Believe

Beliefnet Interviews the Cast & Crew of 'The Rite'

“The Rite,” a new spiritual thriller about exorcism starring Anthony Hopkins, opens everywhere in theaters this Friday, January 28th. All photos courtesy of New Line Cinema.

Ever since The Exorcist terrified moviegoers in 1973 with its vision of the supernatural made flesh, audiences have been been fascinated by demonic possession. Is it real? Are people just faking it? Could it happen to me? The unknown - and how can anyone know about demons for sure? - has always been bone-chillingly terrifying.

This Friday Hollywood returns to the guaranteed-to-give-you-the-creeps subject matter of demon possession and they’re employing no less than the master of unnerving performances: Anthony Hopkins. The man famous for bringing Hannibal the Cannibal to life in The Silence of the Lambs plays Father Lucas, an unconventional priest who is an expert exorcist. Despite years of experience he runs into a power that not even he can defeat, leaving his salvation in the hands of his apprentice (played by newcomer Colin O’Donoghue), a young priest struggling with his own faith.

When making a film that deals with Good and Evil, the Divine and the Unholy, God and Satan, is it important what you believe? Do you have to accept that demonic possession is truth in order to craft a believable film about exorcism? Beliefnet Entertainment Editor Evan Derrick recently sat down with the cast and crew of ‘The Rite’ to find out just that. Stars Anthony Hopkins and Colin O’Donoghue; director Mikael Hafstrom and screenwriter Michael Petroni; and Father Gary Thomas (the real life exorcist upon whose experiences the film is loosely based) were all present to talk about God, demons, and what it's like to witness an exorcism first hand.

So, are there forces beyond our understanding at work or is this no more real than the bogeyman hiding underneath the beds of children?

Do you believe in demonic possession?

ANTHONY HOPKINS: I think it’s psychosomatic, it’s mental aberration but then I don’t know, I’m not a theologian. [laughter] I’m just an actor.

DIRECTOR MIKAEL HAFSTROM: I mean demonic possession obviously exists in a lot of different cultures and religions, but the one we are most familiar with is the catholic version of it…I've read a lot about historic demonic possession. There is a lot of demons in my country too that we have to deal with in slightly different ways.

COLIN O'DONOGHUE: I think I'm more convinced than I was, to be honest. There is slight evidence, I think, but after sitting down and talking to Father Gary and so many of the exorcists that I spoke with, none of them try to convince me that its real. They don't have to. To them it is real… they have to deal with it daily.

On witnessing a real exorcism:

FATHER GARY THOMAS: I've had people attack me in the midst of prayer or exorcism…Sometimes exorcisms can go on and on for years. I've only been an exorcist for four years, but the priest I worked under in Rome has been doing it for more than 20. He's had people coming to him for a long time. Obviously you want to be able to free the person completely if there is a diabolical attachment. A lot of times it depends on the power of the demon, how long that attachment has lasted and even sometimes how much the person wants to be completely free from the attachment.

SCREENWRITER MICHAEL PETRONI: I had the same preconceptions as probably everyone else who isn't familiar with the subject. I thought an exorcism is just something you did it once then you were free. It was interesting to find with an exorcism the liberation can take years.

DIRECTOR MIKAEL HAFSTROM: It's a very straight forward thing in Rome. People who go to exorcists are like people going to the dentist or the doctor. They have a waiting room and people are waiting outside. It's like us going to a shrink: “Hey, we need to get rid of some demons.”

COLIN O'DONOGHUE: I think the idea of it was more daunting than actually being there, in a sense, because obviously everyone has a preconception [of exorcisms]. It was actually fascinating to see. It was like a doctor's waiting room in a church. People go in, the priest appraises you, and then they go home. They make an appointment to come again and that was kind of how it was. There was one woman who as she was passing through the rooms, her head literally just went like that [Colin slowly rotates his head]. She literally just stared at me the whole time until they closed the door. Then when she walked [by me] she did the exact same thing again…just the way she looked at me was really unnerving.

What are your personal beliefs?

ANTHONY HOPKINS: I don’t know what I believe at all really. I don’t know that I believe in God, Santa Claus or Tinkerbell; that in fact, I go through my moments of Atheism. But I certainly wouldn’t be so arrogant as to doubt anyone’s religion or belief. If [there are] people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who sacrificed his life in a Nazi concentration camp for his church, who am I to refute anything?

MIKAEL HAFSTROM: I was brought up in Sweden which is a protestant country. My mother is Jewish Hungarian. They came to Sweden during the war. So I have a lot of sources…I believe in believing. I highly respect... that every individual has their own way of…finding inner peace and finding their way in life. It’s not just about believing in God or a god. It's about a lot of things that have to come together to find this peace.

ANTHONY HOPKINS: Well, I don't want to sound goody two-shoes, but someone once said, “Be kind to everyone because everyone is involved in the great battle.” We don't know what people are suffering. We don't know! So, as Gandhi reached out across the religious divide and said, we must love one another. Christ said the same thing. They all say the same thing, love one another. Be open and be receptive to everything.

What is 'the truth'?

ANTHONY HOPKINS: What I do say is that I know nothing. Anyone who has certainty, anyone who knows The Truth… oh yes, Adolf Hitler knew The Truth. Stalin knew The Truth. Mao Zedong knew The Truth. Look what that caused. That was truth. That was certainty. I would rather live with uncertainty, so I don’t know that much. Certainty is the thing we have to guard against, in politics and in everything. ‘Nobody knows.’ That’s the premise on which I work.

COLIN O'DONOGHUE: I think everybody has doubts at some point. A lot of priests that I have spoken to I have asked the very same question: “Have you ever doubted?” They all say yes. That's when faith plays its biggest part, when you are doubting and you just have to believe and it can pull you through it. I think doubt is healthy in most things. If everyone is so definite in everything, then where's the fun?

Do God and the devil exist?

DIRECTOR MIKAEL HAFSTROM: Maybe? [Long pause, then laughter] I would say yes. I don't think that there can be one without the other.

COLIN O'DONOGHUE: I think the devil and demons and all that stuff becomes more real to you because you spend so much time reading about it. You cant help but think about it. I don't know if the devil is more real or not more real, but [while making the film] I definitely thought [more] about the devil.

SCREENWRITER MICHAEL PETRONI: I think what makes it frightening is the unknown. Its the fact that we don't know. You can not say that the devil does not exist. As a writer, that was the most powerful place to play the scenes from. You can't prove to me that the devil doesn't exist That's a frightening thought, whether you believe or not. If you can't prove that he doesn't exist then you can tap into that concept that everyone can relate to.