10 Movies You Won't Believe Were Released 1 Year Apart

Linda Blair wasn’t the only one who was drastically changed for a role in The Exorcist. By 1972, Max Von Sydow was already a highly acclaimed actor in his native Sweden with roles in Ingmar Bergman masterpieces The Seventh Seal, The Virgin Spring and Wild Strawberries. As a result, Sydow was called upon by William Friedkin to play Father Merrin, an aging priest and experienced exorcist.

The character of Father Merrin was 80 years old in-universe, so Sydow was made up to look the part with defined wrinkles and thinning, white hair. However, in reality Sydow was only 45 years old, but he was already famous for portraying characters that were older with an astonishing degree of believability. The excellent make-up department behind The Exorcist made him look vastly older than he was through their talented touch, and Sydow's perfect portrayal of the aging priest convinced viewers that they were watching an aging actor.

One year later, Sydow played a half-man half-animal who joins 'magic theater' in the Swedish fantasy film Steppenwolf. In this film he looks a lot closer to his actual age, and his mature acting style once again fit the character beautifully. However, because Von Sydow's roles outside of Sweden were few and far between many still to this day believe that Sydow was an aging actor in 1973, even though he played Ming The Merciless in Flash Gordon seven eyars later.