TV impresario Mark Burnett has brought you reality shows like Survivor,Shark Tank and The Voice but many viewers of those shows might not know that he is also behind the Bible. Well, not the actual Good Book, but The Bible miniseries that aired on The History Channel last year. He and his wife, actress Roma Downey of Touched By an Angel fame, have combined their faith with their established careers in entertainment to create somewhat of a religious franchise on TV. One hundred viewers later, it seems to be working. In their latest project, Son Of God opening February 27th, the story of Jesus is told on the big screen.
The couple told the Tom Joyner Morning Show how they felt about bringing the film to life.
TOM JOYNER: I’m told the you eliminated Satan in this movie because in The Bible people said he looked like our President.
MARK BURNETT: We were very upset that the press said that. My wife put Satan on the cutting room floor.
ROMA DOWNEY: This is a movie about Jesus. This is not a movie about Satan. I didn’t want to give Satan any more airtime. So with great pleasure, I cut the Devil out and put him on the cutting room floor. Get you behind me, Satan. SYBIL WILKES: The actor who played Jesus is really fine. He’s gorgeous. He’s a really lovely, good-looking charismatic, beautiful actor from Portugal. His name is Diogo Morgodo. When we were looking to cast thea actor, we were looking for someone who could portray Jesus strength and his compassion and kindness. We got an actor who could be a lion and a lamb and we got both in Diogo.
SYBIL WILKES: You play Mary in the film.
Roma: It was a beautiful role to step into. It was the most beautiful role of my career to play the mother of the Savior. She was the mother of the Son of God but she was also the mother of a son. And it was that humanity that I wanted to bring to the screen – the relationship between a mother and her child. Jesus was nailed to a cross but it was her son that was nailed to a cross. And when he rose from the dead, it was her son who rose from the dead.
Sybil: How were you able to edit jesus life down to two hours?
Mark: Certain things we knew we had to have – obviously the Crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension. But in terms of the miracles – walking on water, feeding the 5,000, raising Lazarus, the Nativity. The rest was a political thriller. Those were scary times. Those young disciples didn’t know they were in the Bible. They were just following a charismatic leader, who later they learned was the son of God.
Sybil: You’ve done a fine job with this film.
Roma: We had people tell us we were crazy to do the Bible, that no one would watch. Then 100 million people showed up. I think its speaks to a greater hunger for God and a greater hunger for hope that this country has. To be able to bring our story to the screen and now to the big screen. Jesus has not been on the big screen for 10 years and his whole life hasn’t been on the big screen in 50 years. So there’s a whole new generation that need to see this story and see in a cinematic presentation. It’s just exciting for us. We’ve been working so hard and we’re very gratified and excited.
