Blair Witch Project star unrecognisable after becoming real-life 'witch'
The Blair Witch Project, a horror film that caused quite a stir over two decades ago, was shot using handheld cameras.
It followed three students - Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams - who ventured into an American forest to make a documentary about the local Blair Witch legend. The only thing they left behind was their terrifying footage.
The movie took Hollywood and the world by storm. To create hype, producers marketed the film as "real life". They set up a website claiming the "students", whose real names were used, had actually vanished. They even stopped the main actors from doing any press initially and claimed they were dead.
READ MORE: Is Blair Witch real? The truth behind the horror story that still haunts its actors
The movie took Hollywood and the world by storm (Instagram)
Heather has now quit Hollywood for good (FilmMagic)The film premiered at the Sundance Festival on January 23 1999 and ended up making more than £157 million. It has since become something of a franchise, with a direct sequel, Blair Witch, released in 2016.
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However, for actor Heather Donahue, now known as Rei Hance, she's been candid about the effect that Blair Witch had on her life - which ultimately led her to quit Hollywood for good. Rei was suddenly thrust into the limelight as the lead star in the movie - who filmed herself crying in one of cinema's most iconic scenes.
However, during the peak of The Blair Witch's success, Rei described herself as the "poorest new famous person in Hollywood." Rei, who was born Heather Donahue, has spoken about the impact of using her real name in the 1999 film.
She told GQ in 2016 that it was her "biggest life regret to this day." She also revealed how the movie affected her career, saying: "Nothing I do will ever surpass what I did at 24. My name and face are forever going to be someone else's intellectual property. My snot-flooded portrait was back. It's all anyone wanted to talk to me about."
After The Blair Witch, Rei had roles in TV show Taken and a few other films. But after 2008's horror flick The Morgue, she retired from acting. In 2008, she made an unexpected career move to become a marijuana farmer. Rei spoke out about her profession and life as a marijuana farmer in her 2012 memoir, Growgirl.
Fast forward to more recent times, and Rei started studying esoteric practices like Zen. In 2020, she received a jukai, an initiation into the Zen traditions and was given the name Reigetsu (Spirit Moon), as Rei noted on her Facebook page.
After that, she changed her name to Rei Hance and now calls herself a "writer, gardener, guide and podcast hostess." She helps people looking for spiritual guidance. Someone wrote on her website that Rei is "a sage and a brilliant witch."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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