PETA: First, the question on everybody’s mind: Was the pea soup in The Exorcist’s infamous heave scene vegetarian?

Linda Blair: Actually, it wasn’t at first, but the bits of meat got caught in the tube, just like meat clogs your arteries, so in the end they used vegetarian soup!

PETA: What made you stop eating meat?

LB: As a kid filming The Exorcist, part of my schooling involved incubators and chicken eggs. I hand-raised the chicks and found them to be as adorable as kittens or puppies. The little creatures do not deserve to go through the farming process that we put them through —the abuse, cutting their beaks off—the many things that people don’t know. I think that people just don’t know chickens.

Lately I’ve been adopting chickens saved from slaughterhouses, and I love every minute of it. They’re in these battery cages, so they really don’t know people. And when they come out, it is the first time they have ever seen the world, yet they know immediately how to find scraps in the yard. They know immediately how to run around and do things that chickens do. They’re just charming little animals. They follow you around. They come into my house; they sit on your lap.

The way we genetically alter them, these birds get sick; I am constantly having to give medical attention to them. Now I understand why factory farmers pump them so full of antibiotics. Several years back, they started talking about the antibiotic wall breakdown. And I now understand; it’s in the food. It’s in the beef. It’s in the chicken. If you get sick and you need to take antibiotics, your immune system doesn’t respond as well because the antibiotic-laced meat you’ve been eating has lowered your resistance.

PETA: Tell us about your “chicken condo.”

LB: I took what was once a small, two-level enclosure for a pony. It’s about 14'x14'—that’s where they sleep. Then they come out during the day and have the run of the entire property. Battery-caged or egg-laying chickens have never been able to use their wings, so they don’t have the same muscles. Their wings never quite grow properly, so they walk everywhere or run. It’s quite charming to see these chickens running after you because they think you’re the best thing since apple pie.

PETA: Do the chickens have distinct personalities?

LB: Yes. One chicken—I called her Red—was instantly interested in whatever you were doing. She just wanted to be in the middle of everything. If you wanted to pick her up or play with her, she’d let you. She was really dear, like a little lap dog. I give all the chickens greens and fruit. And corn mash, bananas, grapes. Everything has to be cut into teeny little pieces because their beaks were cut off and so they can’t eat normally. They have to rely on you, and they trust you. A factory-farmed chicken is always so grateful.

PETA: I understand you have also adopted turkeys?

LB: Last November, before Thanksgiving, I heard there was a junkyard near Long Beach that had 300 turkeys and that if you went in and purchased an auto part you could get a free turkey. Well, animal control got involved, and then PETA got involved. I ended up with two of the turkeys. These little sweethearts, when they came, were like Baby Hueys—innocent, sweet. Their toes and their beaks had been cut off. They did the best they could to meander around. My two turkeys couldn’t have been sweeter. They followed the chickens around and ate the daisy bush that they loved, and they made these little happy noises that most people have never heard. They had blue eyes. Most people do not know that.

Because they’ve been genetically altered, they grow within a very short period of time; a chicken is slaughtered for the dinner table at 7 weeks. The same with the turkeys. Within 3-4 months they are sent to slaughter. So, you’re basically eating babies. They grow very quickly and get heavy, and then their legs cannot sustain the weight, so their hips break or they have heart attacks. It’s what happens to many people who eat meat—they become overweight, have a heart attack or a stroke. The first turkey died in my arms at 8 months old of a heart attack. I just had no idea she was dying. I thought she was having an epileptic seizure. I just held onto her the best I could, and she died in my arms.

PETA: How are turkeys different than chickens?

LB: They’re all curious, but chickens seem a bit smarter. I do not believe chickens are dumb. They’re like people and other animals—you always have smart ones and ones that aren’t as smart. Turkeys, they’re just a little bit slower. They really remind you to slow down in life. I will take in more turkeys since I buried those precious two.

PETA: Why did you decide to write Going Vegan?

LB: A lot of people know approximately how old I am, and they say, “Well, you’re getting thinner and more youthful. How?” And I tell them it’s because I’m a vegan. And I thought maybe I could help some people who truly want to understand and also help the animals. That’s how the book started. I put it out within six months.

The plight of the animals is the last dark secret. I made the movie Born Innocent, which was about teen abuse at home—it wasn’t talked about in 1975. And then I did Sara T: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, which was about teenage alcohol abuse. So, I thought that with the book, I could say this is one of the last dark secrets—how we farm animals.

As I researched, I started learning about dairy farming—that the cattle are tied up constantly to the milking machines. Artificially impregnated. When the calf is born, the calf is shown to the mother and then taken away. If he’s a male, he becomes a veal calf, although 90 percent of the country agrees: “Stop eating veal.” Taking a baby, tying him up, and giving him an iron-deficient diet, with no light, no room to turn around—nothing—is inexcusable. So, between that and learning about the growth hormones, I resolved not to consume dairy.

PETA: How long have you been vegan?

LB: It’s been about two years with food, but much longer with fashion. The fashion industry is out of control. You don’t need leather shoes. I haven’t worn them for years. I don’t wear them on film; I don’t wear leather at all. It’s not in my house. It’s not on my body. I don’t wear fur. You don’t need fur anymore. You have beautiful, man-made fabrics. People go skiing—look at the lightweight, incredible fabrics. Fur is not decorative; it is not pretty.

PETA: Do you notice a difference between being vegan and being just vegetarian?

LB: Well, I liked cheese … so that’s really the biggest question. When someone says, “I can’t give up cheese,” I say if you understand the dairy business and you have any compassionate bone in your body, you can give it up. We’re just raised on it. And vegan cheese is getting better. Also, a lot of people don’t realize that they are allergic to milk or that it’s one of the reasons that they’re having trouble losing weight. Dairy is just not good for the human body. We’re not supposed to have dairy products. People are very hooked on it.

I had to relearn how to eat. When I was 19 years old, I was hospitalized from an ulcerated intestine—way over-stressed in this business—and I had to relearn how to eat and walk. I had a lot of physical problems from The Exorcist—mainly back problems and so forth. So, I share my journey. If I’ve gone through all the pain and the problems I’ve gone through in life and I can make a difference to somebody else’s life and the animals, I’m willing to do that. Nobody likes to go through pain. Pain stinks. And the animals go through it every day, and a lot of people go through it. Take away the animal products, don’t eat animals, don’t wear animals, and your life will become so much better.

PETA: What’s your favorite food?

LB: I live for Mexican food. In my book I have a recipe; it’s called Linda’s Vegan Burritos. I believe they compare to the best Mexican meal, meat or no meat, you can ever have. I use soy-based alternative meat. I use fresh ingredients—I make my own guacamole, from avocados, and salsa, black beans, vegan cheese, rice, vegan sour cream. It will blow your mind. It’s very, very good.

PETA: Some people say that PETA’s campaigns are too sensational, too extreme. How do you feel about that?

LB: Like everything in life, no one is ever going to agree completely with everybody. The work that PETA does is essential to making change for animals. Sometimes the general public may not understand the reasons why PETA may go to the extremes that it goes to. We’re not blowing anybody up. No one is getting hurt. If you watch an animal die in a trap or you watch an animal being electrocuted anally, you will understand the urgency. And I endorse PETA 100 percent with that.

For more information about Linda or to order Going Vegan, visit LindaBlair.com.