It takes some serious courage to get on screen and portray Jesus Christ. It's a massive undertaking to try and depict such a major figure in peoples' lives. Moreover, how do you get those who have no stock in Christianity to buy into the film? It's an incredible balance of epic scale and personable emotion. It's a real human struggle while also representing something bigger for a lot of viewers. For Mel Gibson, he felt like he was more than ready to take on such a hefty role for Passion of the Christ. However, he says Hollywood wasn't so sure about it.
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Recently, Gibson spoke with Joe Rogan on his podcast for an interview. There, the pair take on a multitude of different topics but most notably, they talk about playing Jesus in Passion of the Christ. Mel says that Hollywood higher ups were particularly squeamish about releasing such a potentially divisive film. "There was a lot of opposition to it. I think if you ever hit on that subject matter, you're going to get people going because, of course, it's a big subject matter," he says.
Mel Gibson Says Hollywood Didn't Want Passion of The Christ to Be Made
"The idea was that we're all responsible for this, that His sacrifice was for all mankind, and that for all our ills and all the things in our fallen nature. It was a redemption, so you know, and I believe that," Mel adds.
Gibson continues to defend the merits of depicting Christianity on screen. He feels like it's the "one religion you're allowed to disparage" because of leftist ideologies. They might let other religions pass freely but complicated history prevents it from getting an earnest depiction. Ultimately, Mel feels tremendous gratitude to play a figure that so many people hold near and dear to their hearts.
