Which actor played Father Merrin in the 1973 film The Exorcist?

Max von Sydow played Father Merrin in the 1973 film The Exorcist.

Father Merrin is the experienced Jesuit priest who arrives at the MacNeil home to take part in the exorcism of Regan MacNeil. The character’s arrival gives the film a sense of ritual authority and connects the household crisis to an earlier encounter with the demon Pazuzu.

Von Sydow was already an internationally respected actor when he took the role. He had become especially well known through his collaborations with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, including The Seventh Seal and The Virgin Spring. His performance as Merrin is restrained and solemn, contrasting with the film’s more physically intense scenes.

Jason Miller played Father Damien Karras, the younger priest who works alongside Merrin. The two roles are sometimes blended in casual recollections, but von Sydow is specifically the actor who portrayed Father Merrin.