She was the face of one of the most profitable films in film history: What happened to Heather Donahue, actress of The Blair Witch Project?

A minor reversal sequence. In July 1999, the out-of-nowhere tandem of Daniel Myricky and Eduardo Sánchez released a small horror flick under the direction of distributor Artisan (which has since become Lionsgate): The Blair Witch Project.

A film that will enjoy an incredible global buzz thanks to a cunning marketing plan drawn up long before the explosion of social networks. Marketing was taken to extremes: when the film was released, actors using their real names had to be officially dead in order to keep the buzz around the film alive. “We haven’t had this many chips since The Shining” bluntly declared the slogan supplied by the magazine Les Inrockuptibles, which is affixed to the French poster of the film.

With a worldwide box office gross of over $248 million, the film will have a return on investment of 414,300%. Unheard of, at least until Paranormal Activity, the highest grossing film at the worldwide box office. Such a success that it was even taught in marketing schools.

“They wanted to see me dead…”

But when actress Heather Donahue and her co-stars Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams revealed they were alive and well after a nightmare on set, the reaction from viewers who thought they were really dead turned out. Rare violence. Especially for an actor for whom this was his first role.

“It’s very difficult for me to talk about the negative reaction because it was very personal for me.” He entrusted the site in September 2016 Vice. “My mother was getting condolence cards, people were coming up to me on the street to say they wanted to see me dead and wanted their money back. In La Cienega, under the billboard with my face on it, it was a profoundly surreal experience.

and add: “The success of The Blair Witch Project is something you have to live with, like a tumor or a tattoo on your face. There are still people who think Mike, Josh and I were hired to cover up the fact that The Blair Witch Project was a snuff movie. To say that the actor’s enthusiasm is moderate…

In fact, Heather Donahue has no interest in returning to the spotlight, as she confided GQ In 2016: “I don’t want to be visible, to be a public person.” The Morgue, released in 2008, would be his last contribution in what would ultimately be a very short film career.

He left the industry years ago and settled on a farm in California growing marijuana. The experience, which he recounted in a 2012 book, Growgirl: The Blossoming of the Unlikely Outlaw.