Edgar Ramirez is not what you'd call a horror movie fan. The Venezuelan actor claims to have only seen two horror films before taking up his role as priest Mendoza in Scott Derickson's “Deliver Us From Evil,” both obviously following a theme: “The Exorcist,” when he was six, and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” another Derrickson flick.
He was traumatized, he said, he'd keep his lights on at night.
“Deep inside, the reason i wanted to do this, i needed to release and get rid of those childhood fears,” Ramirez told HitFix during his interview on “Deliver Us…” “I realized I just needed to confront this.”
Working with Derrickson and doing the neccessary research to take on the role of an exorcist, Ramirez was trying to buck the things that scared him, though he certainly thought twice during the shoot.
“That's also the great thing about movies, is they move you, and they change you, and challenge you.”
Ultimately, Ramirez is certainly more comfortable with the genre, plus, “It enhanced my compassion for these people who claim to be possessed,” saying the videotaped evidence of the act revealed “enormous amount of pain. It's really moving and touching.”
Watch the video interview with Edgar Ramirez above for more on evil versus illness and his feelings about the experience of shooting this movie.
“Deliver Us From Evil” is in theaters today (July 2).