Joaquin Phoenix May Portray Jesus Christ In Mary Magdalene Movie

A new movie is in the works about the Biblical character Mary Magdalene, with Rooney Mara cast in the lead - and now there’s word on who the filmmakers have in mind for the role of Jesus Christ.

Deadline reports that director Garth Davis and production company See-Saw Films are courting Joaquin Phoenix to appear as Jesus in ‘Mary Magdalene’ - although it is stressed that this is by no means a done deal.

Written by Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett, ‘Mary Magdalene’ is reportedly “set to be an authentic and humanistic portrait of one of the most enigmatic and misunderstood spiritual figures in history.”

Mara follows on from such actresses as ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’s Barbara Hershey and ‘The Passion of the Christ’s Monica Bellucci in portraying Mary Magdalene.

Even so, she may potentially risk further ‘whitewashing’ controversy in taking on the Middle Eastern role, so soon after her hotly debated casting as the Native American Tiger Lilly in ‘Pan.’

Still, if Phoenix signs on to play Christ, this might render that concern redundant - although again, there’s nothing yet to confirm that he will, and it is believed scheduling may be an issue.

If Phoenix does take on the role of Christ, he will follow on from the likes of Willem Defoe (’The Last Temptation of Christ’), James Caviezel (’The Passion of the Christ’), and more recently Ewan McGregor (’Last Days In The Desert’).

‘Mary Magdelene’ is set to shoot this summer, to be released in 2017.

Director Garth Davis’ first feature, ‘Lion’ - which also stars Mara alongside Dev Patel, David Wenham and Nicole Kidman - is due in cinemas this November.

Picture Credit: WENN

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