The following is excerpted from the Deseret News and was written by Jacob Hess. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
An estimated 2.38 billion people — representing almost a third of the global population — hold some kind of belief in Jesus Christ. Across various denominations, many believers practice various forms of worship designed to draw their hearts and minds closer to the Savior.
Long before the first movies in the 1880s or television’s invention in 1927, Christians have been drawn towards dramatic portrayals of Jesus’s ministry and life — including in the “Passion plays” that became prominent starting in the 15th century in Germany and Austria, a theatrical reenactment of the final week of Jesus’s life that originated in Catholic ritual.
Since the first film about Jesus was released in 1898 — “La Passion du Christ” (The Passion of Christ) — many other film portrayals have been created, including at least 34 films about Jesus and 80 where the Savior is featured in some way.
In recent decades, higher quality film production has created experiences with deeper impact on viewers who witness close-up what it may have been like for Jesus and his early followers. Yet those individuals who play the role of the Savior have a far more intensive experience of immersion and empathy in the life of Christ. What is this like for these actors, and how does it impact their lives and faith?
Alongside explorations of what it’s like to paint Jesus and create songs about the Savior, the Deseret News gathered published comments from six individuals portraying the Savior over the last two decades, including three Latter-day Saints and three other believing actors: Tomas Kofod (”The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd,” 2000 and “Finding Faith in Christ” 2003), Jim Caviezel (“The Passion of the Christ,” 2004), John Foss (“The Life of Jesus Christ,” 2012-2014), Diogo Morgado (”The Bible,” 2013 and “Son of God,” 2014), Anthony Butters (“Christ Appears in the Ancient Americas,” 2023), and Jonathan Roumie (“The Chosen,” 2017-2024).
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Ronald BarnesAugust 7, 2024
In the 1975 film JESUS OF NAZARETH, Ernest Borgnine played the centurion at the foot of the cross. No one was on the cross, so he was told to look up at the chalk mark the director had placed on it. These are his words, as published in Guidepost, March 1989: “Then it happened. As I stared upward, instead of the chalk mark, I suddenly saw the face of Jesus Christ, lifelike and clear. It was not the features of Robert Powell I was used to seeing, but the most beautiful, gentle visage I have ever known. Pain-seared, sweat-stained, with blood blowing down from thorns pressed deep, His face was still filled with compassion. He looked down at me through tragic, sorrowful eyes with an expression of love beyond description. Then His cry rose against the desert wind. Not the voice of Zeffirelli, reading from the Bible, but the voice of Jesus Himself: "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." In awe I watched Jesus' head slump to one side. I knew He was dead. A terrible grief welled within me, and completely oblivious to the camera, I started sobbing uncontrollably. "Cut!" yelled Zeffirelli. Olivia Hussey and Anne Bancroft were crying too. I wiped my eyes and looked up again to where I had seen Jesus - He was gone. Whether I saw a vision of Jesus that windswept day or whether it was only something in my mind, I do not know. It doesn't matter. For I do know that it was a profound spiritual experience and that I have not been quite the same person since. I like to think that I'm more forgiving than I used to be. As that centurion learned 2,000 years ago, I too have found that you simply cannot come close to Jesus without being changed.”