https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u8ea1_Zt2g
Juan Pablo Di Pace is playing the role of a lifetime because he is playing Jesus Christ in AD: The Bible Continues on NBC starting tonight at 9p. Even though this is the role he always wanted on his acting resume, he found it to be a huge responsibility, daunting and he’s humbled to be playing it.
Juan Pablo Di Pace grew up in religious household, so this was a dream role for him and his mother. In fact it might’ve been a role he was born to play. He explained at the NBC TCA Winter Press Day, “My mother is a religious painter. She has a painting in the Vatican. So I grew up with all of that. My name, actually, Juan Pablo, comes from John Paul II. So, you know, it was going to happen at some point.”
Then he talked more about his mom, and her paintings. He said, “She’s been painting Jesus and the saints and angels her whole life. Marta Maineri she’s called, my mother. And, yes, thanks to her teaching me about Michelangelo, about Caravagio about The Passion and all the scenes in the Bible, I was very familiar with a lot of moments in AD as well.” Then he added, “I remember when I was 12, she took me to the Sistine Chapel, and we saw The Pieta. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is the most beautiful piece of art.’ He concluded with, “Fast forward many years later, and there I am full of blood. Greta Scacchi is holding me in her arms, and I’m thinking this is just like a dream, it’s magic, it’s beautiful.”
Since his mother was such a big part of his religious upbringing, Executive Producer Roma Downey said that they flew her in to see her son’s crucifixion as they filmed it for the 12 part series, so that she could be there as emotional support for her son. How was she effected by seeing her son go through that? He said she is working on new paintings because, “She was actually taking inspiration from set.”
To see what inspired her new paintings and more importantly to see his brilliant performance as Jesus, tune in AD: The Bible Continues tonight and every Sunday at 9p on NBC.
