Portugal born Diogo Morgado was already a household name in his native country with a 17 year career spanning in television, film and on the stage. Yet his life and career changed when he was cast as Jesus in the immensely popular History Channel mini-series The Bible, garnering critical acclaim for his portrayal of Christ and reaching an unfounded level of success in his burgeoning career.
Morgado’s stirring portrayal of Jesus can be seen again in Son of God, which was adapted for the big screen from The Bible mini-series. Matt’s Movie Reviews was fortunate enough to get some time with Morgado and asked him about playing Jesus and the role of Bible based movies in today’s world.
Enjoy!
Thank you very much for talking with me and congratulations with the film and also the Bible series.
Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be talking with you.
Was it always a part of the plan to take the story of Jesus from The Bible series and adapt it into a film?
No actually it wasn’t part of the plan. We were watching the rushes, and during the weekend on our day off we gathered all of our team and our crew and cast, and watched it on a big screen and that was actually the moment when Roma Downey – one of the producers – mentioned to us, “You know, this should be a movie!” So I think the idea came as we were shooting, and they took some action in order to shoot extra footage and shape it in a way that they can make it as the movie that it is right now.
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“While I was preparing to portray Jesus,...I didn’t want the audience to feel that they were being introduced to someone that they don’t know. I wanted the connection immediately, in an instant, almost like you’ve seen your best brother or your best friend or your father or your mother. ” - Diogo Morgado |
Previous actors who have played Jesus have spoken about the responsibility in portraying Christ. Did you feel that same responsibility while accepting this role?
Definitely! I don’t know for sure what the other actors felt, but I know that for me as a Christian…I grew up in Portugal as a Christian, I know the responsibility. I know all the stories from the Bible and all of the lessons, and I knew the importance of doing something like this because Jesus is not a character. He is someone who is alive for billions around the world.
So I know how important it is for millions and millions, so yes I took the responsibility, and obviously I’m not going to lie…The first moment I took this mission, this task, I was freaking out, I was scared, obviously. Because part of me wanted it so badly, and the other part was like, “Oh no! How am I gonna be able to do it?!”
But on the other side I think it was really good for me to be insecure, because when you only have fear of something, you grab onto what you believe. So I think that was a really nice part of my process.
Were there other sources outside of the script and the Gospels that you referred to in helping portray Christ as not only our saviour, but also as a man?
Sure. My family, for instance. Because you know for me, as you know, when I say that Jesus is pretty much alive, for those who believe in Jesus they have a personal relationship with him daily. So he’s kind of part of the family.
While I was preparing to portray Jesus, what I wanted is to recreate that feeling. I didn’t want the audience to feel that they were being introduced to someone that they don’t know. I wanted the connection immediately, in an instant, almost like you’ve seen your best brother or your best friend or your father or your mother.
So by the time we get to the crucifixion, we’ve already invested in that relationship…the audience and the figure playing Jesus. So outside of the Bible for sure all of the…the message about Jesus was love and compassion, and luckily in the world there are a lot of manifestations of love and compassion. So my resources were those examples.
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"I knew the importance of doing something like this because Jesus is not a character. He is someone who is alive for billions around the world." - Diogo Morgado |
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of The Passion of the Christ, yet it’s only seems recently that studios have realised people are willing to watch movies such as Son of God at the cinema. Why do you think it took so long for studios to realise this potential?
Actually I don’t know how to respond to that question…look, let’s take the superhero saga as an example. I grew up as a comic book fan. I love all of the superheroes since I was a kid, and for so long there was only like Batman and Superman (at the movies). And now every year, everyone is making all different movies with different superheroes in them.
So they realise how important that is in terms of the audience, who are craving for stuff like that…visual effects and all. So now I think we are taking advantage of a lot of tools we didn’t have, in terms of technology…obviously the visual effects are impressive!
So all of the stories we grew up seeing on the screen like The Greatest Story Ever Told and even The Passion of the Christ which was ten years ago, or Ben Hur, or The Ten Commandments…all of these stories that we grew up with, now we can remake them and visually be really appealing and full film and describe with a grandiosity that these stories deserve.
As a Catholic, I’ve noticed that since the arrival of Pope Francis more Christians are embracing their faith. So with that in mind how important is a movie like Son of God during these times?
I think we’re living in really messy, confused and almost desperate times. We are living in this time of individuality and everybody is just looking for themselves. We have access to all types of information and you can see on social media how an event that happens right now can be spread throughout the world in an instant, and that’s truly amazing.
But on the other hand people are feeling more and more alone, and are more and more disconnected from their own spirituality, and I think that’s an example of our new Pope (about) how people are craving something, for an example of someone to reach out to them and talk about love and hope, which for me was the wider message of Jesus. The message of hope and love and compassion.
So it’s really amazing and it’s really good that not only within religion, but out of all the great examples that mankind have of big figures giving us the right message. It’s always something that people are compelled to follow.
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