Diogo Morgado GMA Screengrab - H 2014
ABCHow does one prepare to play Jesus? For Diogo Morgado, who portrayed the Christian leader in History’s The Bible miniseries and the upcoming Fox-distributed movie Son of God, it really involved getting a sense of the importance of the role and how he could educate people through his portrayal.
Morgado says he began his preparation as an actor would for any role, by doing research, but after an experience at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, he realized that he had an educational responsibility.
“I saw this father and a young kid, they were praying. And I stood for like two hours there. By the time I left, they were still praying,” Morgado told GMA. “And I realized whatever I was about to do would be connecting more with that kid than his father. We live in a visual world now. Kids can learn a lot by seeing things rather than reading it. So I really understood the responsibility.”
Morgado later elaborated, explaining “There’s a lot of people out there. A lot of kids especially. They don’t know who exactly Jesus was. So, this is actually a tool that can teach these kids about why Jesus was who he was and why the Bible was the most important book.”
Morgado also said that he tried to create a more approachable Jesus, in line with how many Christians view the Son of God.
VIDEO: First ‘Son of God’ Trailer
“I grew up as a Christian and I always think of Jesus as someone right next to us, you know, someone really close, and I never actually saw that onscreen in a way that could be identified,” Morgado said. “So I actually tried to go that way and build this relationship of one-on-one with the viewer.”
Watch Morgado’s full interview on “GMA” below.
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