From time to time, I want to highlight a performance that I find truly remarkable. This may be from film or TV and could be a leading role, a supporting role, or even a guest appearance.
I am not sure what is more amazing: Jason Miller's performance in The Exorcist or the fact that it was the first movie that he had ever acted in. The studio wanted a marquee name for the role of haunted Jesuit priest Damian Karras. Jack Nicholson was reportedly screen-tested and Stacey Keach was actually hired for the part before director William Friedkin spotted Jason Miller (father of actor Jason Patric) in an off-Broadway play and asked that the studio buy out Keach's contract. The play in question was That Championship Season, which had also been written by Miller and it made him an overnight success as a playwright, going on to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1973. Friedkin won the battle with the studio, who banked on the fact that an adaptation of a bestselling novel had a built-in audience.
