Working on a horror movie can certainly be scary for some people, but it’s especially creepy when unexplained things start happening after you’ve wrapped up production for the day. While in Vancouver shooting 2005’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose, both Jennifer Carpenter and Laura Linney had eerily similar experiences as they were trying to sleep in their hotel rooms.
According to some sources, Carpenter even thought she’d been followed home on at least one occasion. That’s in addition to a strange phenomenon that continued to occur once she got inside.
During an interview with Dread Central from 2005, Carpenter revealed that there were two or three times when she was getting ready for bed, and her radio came on by itself. Only one of those instances scared her, she says, because the volume was really loud and it was playing Pearl Jam’s “Alive”—but just the “I’m still alive” part. However, Carpenter pointed out that, unlike in the movie, these real-life jump scares didn’t take place at 3 a.m. (the so-called demonic witching hour). She also claimed that Linney had an electronics issue of her own.
A Pearl Jam Song Made Filming ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’ Even Creepier for Jennifer Carpenter
In 2020, the movie’s director, Scott Derrickson, responded to a post on Twitter that touched on Carpenter’s story and the Pearl Jam song. “This is true,” Derrickson replied. “Also, Laura Linney’s radio turned on at night 3 times during production,” he continued. Although Derrickson seems to be slightly off with his assertion, Linney did confirm years earlier that she had a few spooky episodes back in her hotel room as well.
Following the film’s release in September 2005, Linney recalled her TV repeatedly turning on in the middle of the night—though, once again, not at 3 o’clock. When asked if she was bothered by this, Linney said, “You know, it didn’t bother me. It would turn on, and I would just start to laugh.” She went on to say, “It happened once, and I thought it was weird. Then it happened again. It happened three or four times, and Jennifer’s stereo kept turning on. I thought, ‘Well, okay. Faulty wiring. Who knows?’”
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