Maia Morgenstern, haunted all her life by the role of the Virgin Mary in “The Passion of the Christ”: “I was punished”

Maia Morgenstern is known worldwide as the interpreter of the Virgin Mary in the famous film “The Passion of the Christ”. The great actress has spoken many times about the project that brought her many controversies. How did he end up with a role in one of the most successful film productions?

Maia Morgenstern, the great lady of the Romanian theater, played, over the years, in many famous productions and managed to impress countless times in Hollywood. The actress became known worldwide after playing the role of the Virgin Mary in the movie “The Passion of the Christ” in 2004, considered one of the most successful film productions. She starred alongside big names such as Monica Belluci and Jim Caviezel.

Although the film was met with a lot of controversy at the time, due to the scenes of violence, the actress feels glad that she took part in its production. Mel Gibson was the director of the movie that made history in the early 2000s, and he was also the one who sent her the script of the movie after he saw her in the movie “The Seventh Room” and asked her if she liked it.

Maia Morgenstern: “I felt that I was committing myself with all my soul, with all I could”

“I read the script and then he asked me if I liked the script. Well, if they had given me the role of cat number 3, I would have gone there to participate in the making of the film. The fact that he addressed me in this way, that he was interested in my opinion, my opinion, was a gesture of great respect, of great consideration. He treated every collaborator participating in the making of the film, of this project, with the greatest respect, whether we were talking about technicians, whether we were talking about actors from the first line, from the second line wherever they were from, he treated his collaborators with the more respect. I felt that I was committing myself with all my soul, mind with all my energy, with all I could”,
revealed Maia Morgenstern, according to Adevărul.ro.

The actress also told how Jim Caviezel, who played the role of Jesus Christ, proposed to her to play a scene in English, but she refused, preferring to play in Aramaic.

“Let’s both start from 0. We don’t speak Aramaic, let’s try to build the scene from 0. What we know, what we don’t know, what we understand, how attentive we are, what is the truth, sincerity. We started from the same point of fright, of fear, we had repeated the words. But they weren’t the words we use every day, how we adapt, how we listen to each other,” revealed the actress in the show “40 questions” with Denise Rifai.

Also, in another interview with Power, Maia Morgenstern revealed that she was “punished” for accepting to play the Virgin Mary, this role did not bring with it other projects across the Ocean.

“It’s normal, because I was punished. I was told this too. I was told verbatim. No, this role did not change my life or my views. It was a great tragedy that I didn’t say that! In fact, here was the problem, as far as I was concerned – besides the fact that there were discussions like: “A Jewish woman played in this movie!», as if being an actor is about religion – the problem was that I don’t align, I don’t conform, I don’t obey. Many have asked me “and now that you have played this role, how has your destiny changed, your conception, religion?».

“In no way“, I answered. “How can you say that?“, they said. It’s a role that I loved, that I treated with all seriousness, through the issues it posed, through the interesting, complex way in which I was invited to fulfill my professional duties”explained the great artist.

In 2025, the second part of “The Passion of the Christ” will appear

“The Passion of the Christ” is considered to be one of the most violent, but also the most appreciated films in history. Actors Monica Belluci and Jim Caviezel also starred in the film, and the cast also included Rosalinda Celentano, Andrea Refuto and Luca Lionello.

21 years after the release of the first film, next year, in 2025, the second part of the film will be released, also with Jim Caviezel in the role of Jesus Christ.