Whatever Possessed You?
Robert Kirkman’s Outcast aims to do for exorcisms what The Walking Dead did for Zombies. Joseph McCabe brings holy water to the show’s set…
It’s a balmy Autumn afternoon in sleepy Chester, South Carolina. Like so many small Southern towns these days, half the businesses have shut down and those that remain attract few customers. Down Chester’s main street come two figures – a middle aged minister and a younger, wide-eyed man. They knock on the door of a local pet store, inside of which lies a dead parakeet in a cage… and a shopkeeper who may or may not be possessed by a demon.
What an excellent day for an exorcism.
For horror fans, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead is more than just a best-selling comic and a global television phenomenon. It’s what made the world fall in love with zombies. But can Kirkman’s Outcast do the same for tales of demonic possession? It’s a more specific subgenre, and one many would argue hasn’t been given it’s due on screen since Linda Blair’s head spun like a top in William Friedkin’s 1973 shocker, The Exorcist.
“That movie,” laughs Outcast producer-director Howard Deutch when he speaks with SFX on the show’s set. “I needed to take a Valium after I saw it. I was young and I was like, ‘I’m never gonna be able to go to sleep!” Even though her head spun around and she spat pea soup and all that shit, I believed it because of how they earned it. The whole idea, the whole freshness of it. The faith, and good and evil, the characters – Ellen Burstyn and Max von Sydow – all of it, it worked. It clearly worked. And by the way,” he adds. “When the studio saw the movie, they weren’t gonna release it. So it shows you what people know.”
These days they do know better. As is evident in the decision to produce a series based on Kirkman’s 2014 comic book about a young man, Kyle Barnes (played by Gone Girl’s Patrick Fugit), with the power to cast out the devil in others, but who struggles with the demons that have plagued him and his family since he was a small boy. In his search for peace, he partners with a wannabe religious healer, the Reverend Anderson (Life on Mars’ Philip Glenister) and the two embark on a mission to put Kyle’s powers to good use. In doing so both men call into question their long-held individual beliefs.
“Anderson,” explains Deutch, “is selling himself a bill of goods. He’s left his family and his own son, given everything up in his life to do God’s work. He discovers on this journey of his, that he’s a fraud, that it’s not working. That crisis of faith may be symbolic or representative of how other people feel and it may not. But that’s a real issue for a lot of people. I don’t think we’re selling is one way or the other. He’s just a guy who’s experiencing that.”
As for Kyle Barnes, “Patrick’s character never believed for a second. He’s constantly a reminder, because he has the power, that it isn’t about faith. Anderson becomes dependent on Kyle and resents that. Because he thinks he’s the one who’s doing this and he discovers that he’s not. He’s delusional. He refuses to accept that his faith has let him down. A lot of people are like that. So it’s a really rich area to explore.”
Of Fugit, Deutch says, “It’s very difficult to find an actor who’s pure. There’s acting and then there channelling and owning a character. He channels this character. He doesn’t have to act it; he can be it. Because in his back pocket he has this sense of goodness. If you’re gonna cast a guy who’s gotta fight evil just by the essence of him, you couldn’t find a more perfect candidate.”
Demonic Powers
Kyles powers first emerged when his life was threatened by his own mother, herself apparently driven by a demon. After rendering her catatonic, he was placed in a foster home. Now a grown man, he finds history repeating itself when his wife, and the mother of his child, attacked him.
“He has no sense of self-worth.” Says Deutch of Kyle. “No sense of purpose and no feeling of value. How would you feel if your own mother tried to kill you? He doesn’t even want to leave his house. He doesn’t want to get dressed. The only person that makes him feel like he’s worthy of anything is Anderson. Anderson is like a father figure to him and makes him feel that maybe he has a chance to be somebody. Not nobody.”
“On the other hand, Anderson feels like he’s a rock star. He’s a pillar of the community. He’s got his church groupies, those old ladies who follow him everywhere. He’s dependent on Kyle to accomplish what he wants to accomplish. So this dance they do is an interesting kind of relationship. It’s what I think is the best part of the show. It’s very compelling and it’s reminiscent of The X Files’ Mulder and Scully. It’s nitro and glycerine. It’s fireworks. That’s what I love about it. It’s not about special effects, it’s not about the supernatural. That’s a part of it.”
Deutch sees in Kirkman a man as genuine as the characters he creates.
“Oscar Wilde used to say, ‘You might as well be yourself, because everybody else is taken’. It’s hard just to be yourself. But that’s what Robert Kirkman reminds me of – a guy who knows who he is. He’s from Kentucky, of pioneer stock, a Midwestern guy. It does not in any way interest him to be famous at all. He’s a nerd. He’s a guy who writes these characters in his comics and that’s what he’s thrilled by.”
Ready to Tremble
In the case of Outcast, what appears to thrill Kirkman is the chance to explore the roots of faith, and the dichotomy between those who believe and those who don’t. All the while scaring the audience senseless.
“It doesn’t feel derivative,” Deutch assures us. “I know it’s not The Exorcism of Emily Rose and all that crap. But I don’t care whether it’s horror or comedy of a musical, it’s about the writing, the story and the characters. The it can be a horror, a comedy, a romance. But the trunk of the tree for me it the story and the characters. Then the branches are the divisions and categories.
A veteran of 80’s teen favourites like Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful, Deutch has inadvertently become something of a horror TV specialist in recent years having directed numerous episodes of True Blood and American Horror Story.
“I used to do American Horror Story, which is shocking. I did them ad I’m proud of them. It’s a great show but their goal is to shock you… This show is not about shocking you. They’re gonna sell it like a horror show, and it’s horrific – it’s scary as hell. But this show is about relating to these characters. And then,” Deutch warns us “you’ll get shocked.”
Man of God
Philip Glenister on keeping the faith...
How would you describe the Reverend?
Reverend Anderson is he local preacher boy. He’s quite an upstanding figure within the community. He specialises in exorcisms. We’re on episode five right now and he’s out to prove that what he does is worthwhile. During the course of the series he starts questioning his own beliefs and his own faith and his own ability in doing what he does.
Did you learn anything from watching ‘real’ exorcists?
No. I know they’re on YouTube. I need to look at them… When I was shooting the pilot I had a few days off and I was watching TV in my hotel room and I started watching some of these religious channels with these preachers. I was kind of riveted by their power, their ability to sell this idea to their flock, if you like. It’s a real performance. In episode two I do a big three-page sermon warning about demons. So I played that deadly fire and brimstone. And I thought, “This is Elvis in a dog-collar!”
What is your relationship with religion?
I don’t have one.
Does it have a relationship with you?
No if I can help it… I respect people who had faith. Personally, I never was a church-going kid, didn’t come from a religious family. And as I got older and saw the role religion has played in the instability of our planet… I don’t personally have a lot of time for it.
Barnes and Noble
Patrick Fugit on summoning hi inner exorcist for the show…
What kind of a person is Kyle Barnes?
When we meet him he’s at sort of his low point in life. He has a dark history with possession. His mother was possessed and everybody in his town sort of knows that. Just under a year prior to the pilot Kyle had a very violent incident in his house with his wife and his child, and there’s a lot of mystery surrounding that. So Kyle is sort of plagued by a bad reputation and possession and darkness. But Kyle’s a good hearted beacon of light that’s sort of contained at the moment by darkness.
Robert Kirkman has said demonic possession may be a real phenomenon. What’s your take on it?
I don’t know. The way Kyle feels about it is he’s seen it with his own eyes. But I think there’s enough pain around those memories that he’s tried to smooth over the mental scarring by saying it was mental illness, that his mother was sick, imbalanced of something like that. And obviously the Reverend is all in. He believes in God and the devil and demons.
How does he explain the effect he has on people?
It’s only through the first three episodes that he’s discovering, along with the Reverend, that he has sort of an inexplicable effect on these demons, these possessed people. Hyle believes on wat, that’s all logic. And the Reverend believes the other way, which is all religion. And tey have to sort of come together in the middle.
It’s a balmy Autumn afternoon in sleepy Chester, South Carolina. Like so many small Southern towns these days, half the businesses have shut down and those that remain attract few customers. Down Chester’s main street come two figures – a middle aged minister and a younger, wide-eyed man. They knock on the door of a local pet store, inside of which lies a dead parakeet in a cage… and a shopkeeper who may or may not be possessed by a demon.
What an excellent day for an exorcism.
For horror fans, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead is more than just a best-selling comic and a global television phenomenon. It’s what made the world fall in love with zombies. But can Kirkman’s Outcast do the same for tales of demonic possession? It’s a more specific subgenre, and one many would argue hasn’t been given it’s due on screen since Linda Blair’s head spun like a top in William Friedkin’s 1973 shocker, The Exorcist.
“That movie,” laughs Outcast producer-director Howard Deutch when he speaks with SFX on the show’s set. “I needed to take a Valium after I saw it. I was young and I was like, ‘I’m never gonna be able to go to sleep!” Even though her head spun around and she spat pea soup and all that shit, I believed it because of how they earned it. The whole idea, the whole freshness of it. The faith, and good and evil, the characters – Ellen Burstyn and Max von Sydow – all of it, it worked. It clearly worked. And by the way,” he adds. “When the studio saw the movie, they weren’t gonna release it. So it shows you what people know.”
These days they do know better. As is evident in the decision to produce a series based on Kirkman’s 2014 comic book about a young man, Kyle Barnes (played by Gone Girl’s Patrick Fugit), with the power to cast out the devil in others, but who struggles with the demons that have plagued him and his family since he was a small boy. In his search for peace, he partners with a wannabe religious healer, the Reverend Anderson (Life on Mars’ Philip Glenister) and the two embark on a mission to put Kyle’s powers to good use. In doing so both men call into question their long-held individual beliefs.
“Anderson,” explains Deutch, “is selling himself a bill of goods. He’s left his family and his own son, given everything up in his life to do God’s work. He discovers on this journey of his, that he’s a fraud, that it’s not working. That crisis of faith may be symbolic or representative of how other people feel and it may not. But that’s a real issue for a lot of people. I don’t think we’re selling is one way or the other. He’s just a guy who’s experiencing that.”
As for Kyle Barnes, “Patrick’s character never believed for a second. He’s constantly a reminder, because he has the power, that it isn’t about faith. Anderson becomes dependent on Kyle and resents that. Because he thinks he’s the one who’s doing this and he discovers that he’s not. He’s delusional. He refuses to accept that his faith has let him down. A lot of people are like that. So it’s a really rich area to explore.”
Of Fugit, Deutch says, “It’s very difficult to find an actor who’s pure. There’s acting and then there channelling and owning a character. He channels this character. He doesn’t have to act it; he can be it. Because in his back pocket he has this sense of goodness. If you’re gonna cast a guy who’s gotta fight evil just by the essence of him, you couldn’t find a more perfect candidate.”
Demonic Powers
Kyles powers first emerged when his life was threatened by his own mother, herself apparently driven by a demon. After rendering her catatonic, he was placed in a foster home. Now a grown man, he finds history repeating itself when his wife, and the mother of his child, attacked him.
“He has no sense of self-worth.” Says Deutch of Kyle. “No sense of purpose and no feeling of value. How would you feel if your own mother tried to kill you? He doesn’t even want to leave his house. He doesn’t want to get dressed. The only person that makes him feel like he’s worthy of anything is Anderson. Anderson is like a father figure to him and makes him feel that maybe he has a chance to be somebody. Not nobody.”
“On the other hand, Anderson feels like he’s a rock star. He’s a pillar of the community. He’s got his church groupies, those old ladies who follow him everywhere. He’s dependent on Kyle to accomplish what he wants to accomplish. So this dance they do is an interesting kind of relationship. It’s what I think is the best part of the show. It’s very compelling and it’s reminiscent of The X Files’ Mulder and Scully. It’s nitro and glycerine. It’s fireworks. That’s what I love about it. It’s not about special effects, it’s not about the supernatural. That’s a part of it.”
Deutch sees in Kirkman a man as genuine as the characters he creates.
“Oscar Wilde used to say, ‘You might as well be yourself, because everybody else is taken’. It’s hard just to be yourself. But that’s what Robert Kirkman reminds me of – a guy who knows who he is. He’s from Kentucky, of pioneer stock, a Midwestern guy. It does not in any way interest him to be famous at all. He’s a nerd. He’s a guy who writes these characters in his comics and that’s what he’s thrilled by.”
Ready to Tremble
In the case of Outcast, what appears to thrill Kirkman is the chance to explore the roots of faith, and the dichotomy between those who believe and those who don’t. All the while scaring the audience senseless.
“It doesn’t feel derivative,” Deutch assures us. “I know it’s not The Exorcism of Emily Rose and all that crap. But I don’t care whether it’s horror or comedy of a musical, it’s about the writing, the story and the characters. The it can be a horror, a comedy, a romance. But the trunk of the tree for me it the story and the characters. Then the branches are the divisions and categories.
A veteran of 80’s teen favourites like Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful, Deutch has inadvertently become something of a horror TV specialist in recent years having directed numerous episodes of True Blood and American Horror Story.
“I used to do American Horror Story, which is shocking. I did them ad I’m proud of them. It’s a great show but their goal is to shock you… This show is not about shocking you. They’re gonna sell it like a horror show, and it’s horrific – it’s scary as hell. But this show is about relating to these characters. And then,” Deutch warns us “you’ll get shocked.”
Man of God
Philip Glenister on keeping the faith...
How would you describe the Reverend?
Reverend Anderson is he local preacher boy. He’s quite an upstanding figure within the community. He specialises in exorcisms. We’re on episode five right now and he’s out to prove that what he does is worthwhile. During the course of the series he starts questioning his own beliefs and his own faith and his own ability in doing what he does.
Did you learn anything from watching ‘real’ exorcists?
No. I know they’re on YouTube. I need to look at them… When I was shooting the pilot I had a few days off and I was watching TV in my hotel room and I started watching some of these religious channels with these preachers. I was kind of riveted by their power, their ability to sell this idea to their flock, if you like. It’s a real performance. In episode two I do a big three-page sermon warning about demons. So I played that deadly fire and brimstone. And I thought, “This is Elvis in a dog-collar!”
What is your relationship with religion?
I don’t have one.
Does it have a relationship with you?
No if I can help it… I respect people who had faith. Personally, I never was a church-going kid, didn’t come from a religious family. And as I got older and saw the role religion has played in the instability of our planet… I don’t personally have a lot of time for it.
Barnes and Noble
Patrick Fugit on summoning hi inner exorcist for the show…
What kind of a person is Kyle Barnes?
When we meet him he’s at sort of his low point in life. He has a dark history with possession. His mother was possessed and everybody in his town sort of knows that. Just under a year prior to the pilot Kyle had a very violent incident in his house with his wife and his child, and there’s a lot of mystery surrounding that. So Kyle is sort of plagued by a bad reputation and possession and darkness. But Kyle’s a good hearted beacon of light that’s sort of contained at the moment by darkness.
Robert Kirkman has said demonic possession may be a real phenomenon. What’s your take on it?
I don’t know. The way Kyle feels about it is he’s seen it with his own eyes. But I think there’s enough pain around those memories that he’s tried to smooth over the mental scarring by saying it was mental illness, that his mother was sick, imbalanced of something like that. And obviously the Reverend is all in. He believes in God and the devil and demons.
How does he explain the effect he has on people?
It’s only through the first three episodes that he’s discovering, along with the Reverend, that he has sort of an inexplicable effect on these demons, these possessed people. Hyle believes on wat, that’s all logic. And the Reverend believes the other way, which is all religion. And tey have to sort of come together in the middle.
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