Roma Downey Gives Us an Update on History Channel Bible Miniseries

Roma Downey, TV’s former lead angel in Touched by an Angel, came to the phone to talk about the release of her Little Angels Bible Storybook.

She was pulled out of work to come, she explained. She was knee deep in editing her next project.

With her husband, producer Mark Burnett of Survivor fame, Downey is producing a ten part miniseries acting out the Bible. It will air on the History channel in Spring of 2013.

They wrapped up principal photography in July, after spending six months in Morocco filming.

“We’ve been developing the scripts for three years,” explained the very excited Downey, “And we’ve brought in a ton of experts and scholars to be accurate. We will be telling the main stories of the Bible in the spirit of the Bible. Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel. Jesus and the crucifiction and resurrection.”

She was particularly excited about applying modern special effects to the Bible, updating Cecil B. Mille’s 1956 version of the burning bush, for example. “You haven’t seen miracles come alive on the big screen until you’ve seen these,” she gushed.

But the special effects aren’t the only thing going for the project. Diogo Morgado as Jesus “brought beauty, strength, and humility to the role. He portrayed the lion and the lamb.”

Downey herself stepped in front of the camera. “I’ve loved Jesus my whole life,” she said, “so the chance to step in as his mother, it was so humbling and a privilege.”

Downey said the project is the best work she and her husband have ever done. “As a married couple, to have brought this to life….thrilling,” she said, “Two years and we’re still speaking to each other. It’s brought us closer.”

But best of all, she said, is the chance to reach people from all walks of life.

“I have reached a point in my career where I don’t have to work,” she said, “I have a lot of gratitude. I have a choice. I can do projects that are positive and honor God.”