You probably remember Eileen Dietz from her roles in The Exorcist as the Face of Death and playing Possessed Reagan. She also has a bunch of upcoming horror films too. Dr.Mowamba got to do this interview with her. I hope you all enjoy!

(Q): How did you get started in acting?

(A): I always wanted to be an actress and I went to the Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC where I grew up when I was 12..after I graduated high school I spent about a minute and a half in college, I hated it, and hit the streets of NY and did my first film, a hard rock film called TEENAGE GANG DEBS, a bow film made for drive-ins and performed in my first soap opera.

(Q): How did you wind up being cast for the Exorcist?

(A): I was acting in a play called THE ONTOOGICAL PROOF OF MY EXISTENCE which means there is no proof, a great part of a girl who comes to NY to be loved and ends up locked in a basement apartment with a guy who finds men and women for her to love, and an agent saw me in the play and submitted me for a film called THE EXORCIST for the part of the Demon…I met the casting director and she asked me to read the book and come back and do some improvisations for her playing the little girl and the demon.. after a screen test and a meeting with Billy Freidkan, the director, and Dick Smith the makeup artist, I got the job…My sister Denise Dietz has written a book called FIFTY CENTS FOR YOUR SOUL which is inspired by The Exorcist and the first four chapters are totally based on my experience getting the job, all the names have been changed of course but it’s a fascinating read if you are interested in the film and can be ordered, signed by the author, by writing to my web page: eileendietz.com and I will tell you how to order the book, its twenty dollars and comes with a signed picture of THE FACE OF DEATH, the shot of the demon, the subliminal shot in the film.

(Q): Can you tell us a little about your roles in the Exorcist?

(A): I was originally hired just to do the abuse of the cross sequence because Linda Blair was too young to do it and I ended up working on the film for almost six months….creating the vomit scene, the death scene at the end, the spitting sequence, and many more and the last day of the shoot we shot the subliminal scene mentioned above.

(Q): You did some of the more controversial scenes for Regan have you ever had any negative comments or press about doing them?

(A): No.

(Q): Can you tell u a little about the make-up processes for the Exorcist and how it was working with Dick Smith?

(A): Dick Smith is a genius and the nicest man and the gentlest of men in the whole world. All makeup artists working today owe something to Dick. He has made up everyone from Dustin Hoffman to Marlon Brando. He tells the most amazing stories while he is making you up. I went to his lab in upstate New York and he has makeup heads and torsos and everything there. It took 3 ½ hours to do and an hour or more to take off.

(Q): You were also in the 1976 T.V. movie Helter Skelter can you tell us a little about the film?

(A): It was a joy to work on that film as well. I knew girls like the Manson girls, not killers of course, but girls that were badly in need of love and confirmation that they were worthy of being loved…and would do a lot to find that love…I felt sorry for the girls because if they hadn’t met Manson they would never have killed anyone. It was a meeting in life that could’ve turned out anyway else. It was a blast playing a real person and often we felt we were really part of the gang... especially one night with a full moon we were singing his songs on a hill, it felt eerily real.

(Q): You are no stranger to the horror convention scene. What do you think of them and have you ever had any strange requests or experiences at them?

(A): I love them. I love the travel and staying in fabulous hotels and eating in new restaurants and I love meeting fans and answering their questions... I hope the experience of meeting me somehow will always stay with them and they will take away a little something special (besides pictures or a dvd or a Pazuzzu head) of me from their experience and get some insight into “scariest movie of all time”.

(Q): Were you always a fan of horror movies growing up and what are some of your favorites?

(A): Yes and my favorites are some very well known ones and some very obscure like THE L SHAPED ROOM, SCREAM OF FEAR and then of course the original PSYCHO, and ROSEMARY’S BABY and JAWS and then WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE and CARRIE and the original HILLS HAVE EYES and HALLOWEEN, (and cause I have friends in them) I like psychological thrillers rather than blood and guts type stuff.

(Q): Recently you were cast as a Zombie in the film Constantine can you tell us a little about it and about the make-up process and how it is different today compared to when you did the Exorcist?

(A): The similarity is that it was also a 3 ½ hour makeup job, they put it on piece by piece by piece and we shot it underneath the Santa Monica pier in California. Keanu Reeves is also about the nicest guy in the world and such a love to work with.

(Q): You have quite a few upcoming horror films can you tell us a little about them?

(A): Yikes, I would be glad to. Lets see EXORCISM which is supposed to be a horror film but is actually very funny is playing on THE SCI FI CHANNEL and CREEPSHOW 3 has just been bought by HBO. I did a film that is about evil vs. evil, the bad assed guys (Robby Piper and Richard Tyson) against the Devil, (Jonathan Davis of Korn) that is almost completed and it looks like it is going to Cannes, I loved working on Syn-Jin Smyth, it was a great and relaxed set although we got a lot done, we were allowed the freedom to have fun and Ethan Dettenmaier the director knew enough to have a fabulous crew around him as well as fun actors like Richard Tyson and Roddy Piper and we all look forward to the release of the film. It you want to find out all about it please google Syn-Jin Smyth and you will have a ball. Also a thriller called SIBLING RIVALRY that is looking for distribution and my favorite THE QUEEN OF SCREAMS that I just finished shooting directed by Margo Romero with music by JED’S DEAD. It’s a slasher film with heart and has a guest appearance by the wonderful Tiffany Shepis. its about a once huge movie star who is losing her popularity and stardom and whose husband buys her a theatre so she can “keep her hand in the business”.. the quote from the film is “she didn’t only want revenge she wants the whole town’ You can find some information on myspace.com/eileendietz and hit the friend QUEEN OF SCREAMS and I invite you to be my friend and I will keep you alerted to what is happening in my career.

(Q): Is there anything else you are involved with you would like to let the fans know about?

(A): I am going to Tennessee to work on a film, working title is SICK and then I am doing a horror convention in Germany I believe is called THE HOUSE OF HORROR and CINEMA WASTELAND in April outside of Cleveland and hopefully working on a film called THE INNER CIRCLE. As well as a film called JOB written by the brothers John and Spencer Gray.. It’s a fabulous horror film, look for it to be produced very soon.

(Q): Thanks so much for doing this interview for Deadpit.com. Is there anything else you would like to say to the fans?

(A): Just that I appreciate you all so much, without you there is no me, I love meeting you at the horror conventions If you have a horror convention in your town or a haunted attraction come next October and you would like to meet me, write to the promoter of the show, you can find them on their web page and tell then you want Eileen Dietz, the girl from The Exorcist who played The “Face Of Death and you want me to come to your town. They really do listen to you fans….and write to myspace and join my friends. And thanks so much for reading this interview and being “part of my life

For more on Eileen check out her site at WWW.EILEENDIETZ.COM