In an earlier interview I did with NBC’s “A.D.: The Bible Continues” star Juan Pablo Di Pace, who plays Jesus, the actor spoke about his mother:
Di Pace’s mother is religious painter Marta Maineri, who named her third son after Pope John Paul II.
“She came to the shoot,” said Di Pace. “She was at the Crucifixion, my own mother. I called her before, and I said, ‘I was auditioning for a part, auditioning for Jesus.’ She said, ‘Oh, Juan Pablo, you couldn’t be Jesus. You’re not ready to play Jesus.’ ‘That’s harsh.’ When I got the part, I said, ‘Mom, I got Jesus. I’m playing it.’ She’s like, ‘I knew it.’ I said, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ ‘I was preparing you.’
“She came in handy at that moment, because it didn’t feel like I did enough of what it takes to get the role, and I didn’t feel ready until I was.
Last week, I headed back to the set of “Beyond A.D.,” the Web companion series (click here to watch) to “A.D.: The Bible Continues,” which airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. It’s a 12-episode sequel to History Channel’s wildly successful miniseries “The Bible,” produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.
Di Pace was one of the guests for the April 19 episode, and we sat down for a chat after the taping. I noticed he was wearing the same little gold cross he had been when I first met him at a press event in January.
“This is something my mother gave me,” he said, “when I was doing Communion — maybe it wasn’t Communion, maybe it was a little later. She had one made for my father and for my brother and for myself.
“They’ve been wearing them forever. When she gave it to me, I just said, ‘No, I don’t want to.’ I was a teenager. ‘Please, I don’t want to wear that!’ It was probably for Communion, since I didn’t do Confirmation. Many years later, as in after playing Jesus, she comes up to me and she goes” — he mimes holding up the necklace — “‘What about now?’
“And so now I’m wearing it, and it really reminds me of her.”
As for playing Jesus, that’s one that will stay with Di Pace.
“It was a really hard one to shake off,” he said. “It was a really hard part not to get attached to, because there’s so much to learn from it. I literally had withdrawal symptoms when I flew back home. I didn’t want to leave Him.
“To be honest with you, if they asked me to go back and do it again and again and gain, I would, because it leaves such a huge effect.”
Image: Kate O’Hare
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