Rare images of the The Exorcist Steps Fall Being Filmed

The name Chuck Waters is not commonly associated with The Exorcist, yet the stuntman is featured in two iconic scenes that occur in the film’s climax. Working as Jason Miller’s body double (Father Karras) he dove out of Regan’s bedroom window and threw himself down the ominous Hitchcock Steps… twice.

Everything Exorcist partner Justin (via his fantastic website Behind The Exorcist) retrieved these amazing rare behind-the-scenes photos of the stunt being performed on the night. They surfaced via the Pepperdine University Library online archives along with a short article on Waters from his local newspaper, the Waukegan News Sun.

Waters famously hurled himself down the stairs for two takes, hitting all 97 stone steps that special effects artist Marcel Vercoutere had lined with rubber.

In the documentary The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist, actor Jason Miller recalls the night Waters performed the stunt with people looking on from nearby rooftops. When asked how he did it, Waters replied, “Zen… Complete and total non-resistance. My body becomes completely relaxed.”