Eric Bana takes on the real-life role of retired NYPD officer Ralph Sarchie for his latest film, “Deliver Us From Evil.” In preparing for the role, he saw actual footage of Sarchie assisting in exorcisms in New York, admitting on “Chelsea Lately” that they kind of freaked him out.
“In pre-production we saw some video tapes of of [Ralph Sarchie] which I really wish I hadn’t seen,” he told Chelsea Handler. He added that they “sort of jolted my safe skepticism.”
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When Handler asked if he had trouble sleeping afterward, Bana admitted that he did for about a week. “The thing about it is it wasn’t what you expect,” he explained. “You’re expecting someone making a lot of noise and kind of screaming and ranting and yelling and it’s not that at all. It’s a really still kind of really eerie thing. And it freaked me out.”
Bana channeled that into his performance as Sarchie in “Deliver Us From Evil,” which co-stars Edgar Ramirez as the priest he partners with on exorcisms, as well as Olivia Munn, Sean Harris and Joel McHale.
See video: New York City Is Possessed in Creepy New ‘Deliver Us From Evil’ Trailer
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film was directed by Scott Derickson, who co-wrote it with Paul Harris Boardman, based on the book “Beware the Night” by Sarchie and Lisa Collier Cool. From Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Screen Gems will release the horror film to theaters on Wednesday July 2.