Jesus to get Israeli mom in new flick
Actress: ‘No trace of anything against Judaism’ in film
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Israeli-American actress Odeya Rush is set to play a young Mary in the upcoming semi-historical film “Mary, Mother of Christ.”
“I read the script nervously,” Rush, 15, told the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday. “But I found that there is no trace of anything against Judaism.”
The film will be produced by Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen, a well-known American televangelist, based on a script written by Barbara Nicolosi and Benedict Fitzgerald. Nicolosi was a “theological consultant” on Mel Gibson’s highly controversial and hugely successful 2004 movie “The Passion of the Christ.” Fitzgerald wrote the screenplay with Gibson. The new film is being called a prequel to that megamovie.
“Mary, Mother of Christ” follows New Testament accounts and traces the life of Mary from her childhood to young womanhood, highlighting the difficulties she experienced caring for her child, Jesus. Rush will play Mary at ages eight, 15 and 19.
Rush was born in Israel, but moved to the US with her family when she was nine to pursue a career as an actress. She worked on the TV series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Law and Order: SVU,” and will appear in the Disney film “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” scheduled for release in August.
The Bible film made headlines last week after US federal prosecutors forced a convicted drug trafficker to turn over his 10 percent stake in the movie as part of his plea bargain.
Filming is scheduled to begin on “Mary, Mother of Christ” this summer, and it is expected to be released in 2013.
The Times of Israel Community.