'It was my life's calling': Linda Blair says midlife crisis inspired her to start World Heart Foundation

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Linda Blair has shared about her ‘midlife crisis’ after the record success of ‘The Exorcist.’

While talking to People, the actress-activist revealed what inspired her to start an NGO. "In my 20s, I said, 'I really am struggling.' It was like, for some, a midlife crisis," Blair said.

"But, for me, it was my life's calling, saying, 'What about me? The animals need help.'" She further explained, "So that's where I really started buckling down ... and I was giving my time and money."

What was Linda Blair's dream job? 

Before her unexpected fame with her role in ‘The Exorcist,’ she had planned to be a veterinarian, and to fund her dream job, she took small modeling and commercial roles.

"It wasn't Hollywood. That wasn't what we signed up for. We weren't looking for that, we were looking for funding for me to pursue my dream, which was to go to Cornell [University]," the 64-year-old explained.

After being chosen for the demon-possessed little girl, Blair revealed she didn’t face any trauma after filming the horror flick and had a normal childhood.

Among all the new spotlight and global recognition, she didn’t lose her love for animals, as per People.

"They made sure on the weekends I went out. I got to ride my horses [and] I had raised a rooster in an incubator on the set for my science project,' she added.

On the success of ‘The Exorcist,’ Blair said, "It changed the direction of what I wanted."

"So I worked and I worked. I'm proud, now, of all these movies ... and I know they changed a lot of lives, so for that, I am very grateful,"she continued.

Introducing The Linda Blair World Heart Foundation

However, she returned to what she was passionate about from the beginning and launched The Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation in 2003. This is an organization that works for ‘rescuing and rehabilitating abused, neglected and abandoned animals, which also provides them with proper nutrition, veterinary care, comfortable facilities, training, socializing’, as per its website.

She mentioned her late mother Elinore, who ignited animal love in her from a young age. "She really created who I am, and she loved life," Blair said.

"And she was one of the kindest people I know and just always said, 'Hang with like-minded people, and do volunteering. You're going to meet people that are going to change your life, it just is the way it is,'" she added.