What could be more miraculous than seeing Jesus having lunch? Perhaps seeing two Jesuses having lunch together. That’s was the sight that greeted diners in a restaurant in Ouarzazate, Morocco, where Juan Pablo Di Pace, the actor playing Christ in NBC’s AD the Bible Continues, broke bread with his friend Haaz Sleiman, who played the same role in NatGeo’s Killing Jesus.
“We were just talking about the character and what it meant to each of us – it was amazing chat,” Di Pace said.
For Di Pace, who was born to an Italian family in Argentina and is best known in America for playing a billionaire on the TNT reboot of Dallas, that character meant some complicated things. Sure, he spent a decade in London, playing roles on the Catherine Tate Show, New Tricks and River City, but nothing of size and scope of AD, which is sure to be a major ratings hit. And, you know, he had to get a handle on the whole playing the son of God thing.
When he found out, he says: “I was exhilarated and incredibly happy at first and then a kind of daunting feeling came over me. It’s such a huge, iconic character. There was a lot to take in and a lot to embark on.”
AD, which starts on Easter Sunday, is a 10-part retelling of the Book of Acts in the New Testament that details the founding of the Catholic Church. As the full title suggestions, it is sequel to the History Channel miniseries The Bible, which, amazing the TV industry, drew audiences of more than 10 million viewers for each of its installments, kicking off a wave of Christian-themed programming.
As with The Bible, Survivor and The Voice producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey made AD. Di Pace did not star in the first miniseries – he takes the role over from Diogo Morgado. “I don’t really want to compare because we’re two different people,” Di Pace says. “I think everything’s fair in art and how you perceive a character. I love what Diogo did and I leave people to decide what they take away from my version of it.”
This new miniseries starts with the crucifixion, which, as sacrilegious as it may sound, is naturally Di Pace’s big scene. To make it happen, he had to endure six hours in the make-up chair for two days hanging from a cross in the Moroccan desert. A harness was secured around his lower back.
“I couldn’t move my arms too much because I would stick to the blood and wounds and destroy them,” he says. “The flies were loving the blood” – made from corn syrup – “and that wasn’t fun. But, you know what, I would do it again and again because it was so moving to do and just beautiful. I actually saw it as something fun to do.”
Di Pace couldn’t help but find playing the crucified Christ a profound experience. “Just being up there, hanging from that cross and having that vantage point,” he says. “I look down at the people looking up at him and then up at the beautiful sky and then out at the red, red sand. That was a powerful experience.”
Though as an Italian in Argentina Di Pace was more than familiar with Catholicism, he says that playing the role lead him to a whole new perspective on how he sees the universe. “I would say that I’m more spiritual and it certainly opened up a wanting to ask questions and really hope that there is something beautiful out there that we can’t perceive,” he says. And if the role of Jesus had that much effect on him, imagine the conversions among people who saw two Christs eating lunch that day.
