Five Actors in Films about Christ

Jeffrey Hunter, Von Sydow, Dafoe, Lothaire Bluteau, and Jim Caviezel

Apr 9, 2009

Few roles can be harder than playing the Son of God. Here are five actors who starred in films inspired by, or based on works inspired by the Gospels.

Over the years many actors have played Jesus, although none except perhaps Robert Powell on television have done particularly well out of doing so. Here are five of them, with apologies to Enrique Irazoqui for his exclusion, but he rarely appeared on film again after starring in Pasolini's The Gospel According to St Matthew.

Hunter is almost forgotten these days except amongst Star Trek fans who may remember him captaining the Enterprise in the original 1966 pilot. Hunter appeared alongside John Wayne in John Ford’s The Searchers, then as Frank James in Nicholas Ray’s The True Story of Jesse James, before reuniting with Ray for King of Kings.

Despite Ray directing, King of Kings can’t shake off the constraints of the biblical epic. Ray’s love for beautiful outsiders is still present; Christ is a rebel with a cause. Hunter was as handsome as any matinee idol, but he never quite made it as a leading man. Hunter ended up guest-starring in episodic television. He died young at the age of 42, after suffering a stroke.

Tall, haunted, subtle Swedish actor who took the lead in George Stevens long-winded epic. Von Sydow was a regular member of Ingmar Bergman’s acting troupe and played the Knight returning from The Crusades, who engages in a battle of wits with Death in The Seventh Seal.

Still lending his dignified presence to films in his 80th year, Von Sydow has worked with filmmakers as diverse as Lars Von Trier, Steven Spielberg and Dario Argento, Von Sydow served the Almighty once more as Father Merrin in William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.

A flawed, sometimes brilliant film based on Nikos Kazantzakis novel of the same name, The Last Temptation of Christ caused outrage on its release. Sergio Leone described Dafoe as having the face of a psychopathic killer. However you can see exactly why Martin Scorsese cast him as Jesus if you look at his performance as Sergeant Ellis in Oliver Stone’s Platoon. Dafoe’s death scene, with his arms outstretched in a Christ-like pose, became an iconic movie image.

A bit of a cheat here, as Bluteau is not playing Christ in Denys Arcand’s film, but an actor called Daniel hired by the Church to put on a performance of the Passion play. Despite its popularity the authorities hate the play, and try to shut it down. Daniel’s life begins to mirror the Gospels as he and his acting apostles find themselves in conflict with Church and State. Bluteau later starred in Bruce Beresford’s moving Black Robe as a 17th century priest on a mission to save souls in the New World.

The otherworldly Caviezel made a huge impression in Terence Malick’s The Thin Red Line as Witt, the wayward soldier who undergoes a spiritual awakening while serving in the Pacific. Caviezel was just as mesmerising in Luis Mandoki’s underrated Angel Eyes as a man hiding from his own grief by helping others.

However all Caviezel is allowed to do in The Passion of the Christ is get beaten up. The poor guy even got struck by lightning while on the cross. Some interpreted this as a sign from above, but the more sensible view would be not to let Mel Gibson strap you to a large wooden cross during a thunderstorm. Caviezel will soon be seen as Number Six in a remake of the cult TV show The Prisoner.

The copyright of the article Five Actors in Films about Christ in Classic Films is owned by Kevin Sturton. Permission to republish Five Actors in Films about Christ in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.