Alex Essoe on The Pope’s Exorcist and star Russell Crowe

How do you fight real, supernatural evil? The Pope’s Exorcist is the story of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, and it’s inspired by a real man and his books.

Russel Crowe stars in the film as Father Amorth, a legend called to help one young boy possessed by a demon that has caused chaos and evil. Crowe doesn’t hold anything back in this role, and he’s wise-cracking and grim all at once.

Actor Alex Essoe spoke to The GATE about working on The Pope’s Exorcist, playing Julia, and working with Russell Crowe, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney as the young boy, Henry, and Laurel Marsden as Amy. She had a lot of praise for Crowe, and her tow young co-stars.

“Initially, I just really liked the script and the idea,” Essoe said. “I had no idea that Russell Crowe himself was going to play Father Amorth until after I had already booked the part. So I was completely gobsmacked. I was not expecting that at all. I was over the moon, and I really had to pinch myself.”

The role came with a few fun challenges, too.

“I really like doing stunts, and these were the most advanced stunts I’ve been able to do,” she said. “I still had an incredibly amazing stunt double who could do the craziest stuff, but I was actually just relieved that I didn’t have to wear a bunch of prosthetics this time, because I’ve done that already and I think I’m good for a little while.”

“But what I really liked about about working on a movie like The Pope’s Exorcist… it is very different from most exorcism movies. It’s sort of a departure from a lot of the tenets of that, and what’s great about that is how much it walks the line between a popcorn movie… [with] a lot of cool action sequences, but it’s also very grounded and elevated by Russell Crowe’s character work and and the gravitas that he brings to the project.”

“[Crowe] takes his job very seriously. He’s incredibly professional. He always comes to set completely prepared. He always wants to to run lines and workshop things and try things, and he always made us feel included and respected. And it very much is about the purity of creation for him. It’s not about his ego, it’s not about how he’s coming across.”

Essoe called him a “drama geek”.

“He loves it so much and it’s completely infectious, and it’s also very … inspiring to work with someone like that who has been doing it as long as he has and has not been sucked into the machine and been overtaken by the fame monster.”

As Henry, DeSouza-Feighoney had a lot to work with for this wild role as a child possessed, and he loved every minute of playing the monster.

“Peter is 12 going on 47. This kid is so grounded and so self-possessed and and quite the thespian as well.”

“He loved being the demon. His least favorite days were when he had to just be a regular little kid. He’s like, ‘No, I want to wear makeup and swear and scare people,’ and he was amazing at all of those things.”

Essoe also worked diligently with Marsden to create a relationship with her.

“Laurel does have a a natural feel for this and for human connection. She’s a very honest, very outgoing person. But then beyond that, she’s also down to do the work. She and I would meet up and rehearse and workshop the scene, because mother-daughter scenes especially are not easy to write if you are not a mother or a daughter.”

“So it was nice that we were given the freedom to explore that relationship together and try and bring some honesty to it. I loved working with her.”

The Pope’s Exorcist is playing in theatres now. Watch the full interview above.

All images courtesy of Sony Pictures.