Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Alejandro Hidalgo, Joseph Marcell, Saban Films, The Exorcism of God, Will Beinbrink

The Exorcism of God: Will Beinbrink on Film's Supernatural Horror

Will Beinbrink is always looking for new ways to challenge himself with each role he takes on. When the actor read the role for Father Peter Williams in the supernatural thriller The Exorcism of God, he knew it wasn't something he could pass up. I spoke to the star, who's also featured It Chapter Two (2019) and Shepard (2020), about what appealed to him about the Alejandro Hidalgo film, how he prepped for the role, and working with co-star Joseph Marcell.

"I thought the script was absolutely terrifying and nuanced with great characters and an exciting story that I'd never seen told this way in the exorcism genre," Beinbrink said. The Exorcism of God follows an American priest working in Mexico, who carries a dark secret that's eating him alive due to a botched exorcism. He gets an opportunity to face his own demon one final time. "I did a good amount of prepping in terms of learning more about what it means to be a priest within the Catholic Church. I had to do some work on getting from Latin and what these passages within the Bible meant. So I did quite a bit of Bible study because there are passages of Latin and certain scenes. Then I had to get a little sharper on my Spanish."

Beinbrink appreciates others who share the passion for the craft as he does. "Joseph and I had great chemistry; I feel like part of it was because we were both come from the theatre," he said. "So we have a fairly strong work ethic, and we just felt like kind of the relationship of the film of Father Peter and Father Michael. We had strong chemistry, and we actually lived in the same house. Sometimes we'd be up on the roof, hanging out together, just catching up and talking about scenes and our personal lives. So we ended up being able to have strong chemistry that I think naturally bled over onto the set, and he's a sweet, good human being. I always appreciate people who are like actors foremost versus celebrities foremost, who are focused on doing good work, building and having a great experience."

The actor credits the writer-directors resourcefulness and efficiency to make the film work. "Alejandro is a very fastidious and detail-oriented director," he said. "I feel like nothing passes by his eyes. Those scenes are fairly complex in terms of the lighting, production value, and camera work. All these things are happening in front of the camera. I would say an auteur, a perfectionist. He wanted to get these shots perfect with the movement of the actors at the same. So he was really working on creating strong choreography. I feel like, for the most part, we accomplished that. We had a limited time to shoot the movie. We probably wish we could have a lot more time, but that's the state of independent film sometimes. He knew what he wanted. He was very articulate passionate and wouldn't stop till he got it. Those are directors that I love working with."

Not surprisingly, Beinbrink broke down how the film's exorcism scenes were the most difficult. "The amount of stakes between each character and what they're fighting for is so clear and evident within each character's doing within these scenes," he said. "That was the first thing was sustaining that level of intensity and energy for five minute or eight-minute scenes. Then not only having that, but also having to incorporate Latin, Spanish, and English and the other confinements. There were places where I was confined physically, and I feel like those either go two ways, which depends on how you take them. They either go against you, or they go with you if you're able to accept the limitations and work within them. So there were a lot of different variables that made these scenes so challenging. I feel like that's why I would say the exorcism scenes in particular because they were just crazy." Co-written by Santiago Fernández Calvete and also starring María Gabriela de Faría, Hector Kotsifakis, and Irán Castillo, Saban Films' The Exorcism of God is currently in theaters, on-demand, and digital.

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