This Day in Horror: Happy Birthday Heather Donahue
Born on this day in 1977: Heather Donahue
Donahue is best known for her role in The Blair Witch Project. She answered an ad looking for actors with strong improvisational skills, and got the role. The movie, a found-footage film, sent a trio of “college students” into the woods to search for proof about an urban legend, the Blair Witch. The trio get lost, and meet a presumably dire fate.
In order to keep the charade going, and make people believe the film was an actual documentary, Donahue and her co-stars were asked not to make any public appearances or do any interviews prior to the film’s release. IMDB even listed the actors as “missing, presumed dead.” Donahue’s mother received sympathy cards over her daughter’s “death.”
Though the film grossed nearly $300 million, Donahue had a hard time finding work after The Blair Witch Project. She had a few small roles in under-the-radar indie films, bland studio rom-coms, and direct-to-video productions. Eventually, she quit acting in 2008 and began growing medicinal marijuana professionally. She even wrote a book about it, Growgirl.
Categorized:News This Day in Horror
