Posted on 12/01/2005 5:28:59 PM PST by Coleus
The Pope John Paul II TV Movie
December 1, 2005
The eventful life and times of the late POPE JOHN PAUL II are coming to the small screen in an all-new, four-hour miniseries on CBS -- and ET's MARY HART goes one-on-one with star JON VOIGHT when he drops by the ET set.
"He had great charisma and he had great love for people in general, and a great regard for young people," Voight tells ET. "He had real faith and real fervor, and he was a man of God. He did some great things, some controversial things."
Shooting in authentic locations, including the pope's homeland of Krakow, Poland, the spectacular Palazzo Reale (Italy's largest royal palace) and near the Vatican in Rome, Italy, "Pope John Paul II" chronicles the fascinating life of KAROL WOJTYLA, from his early days as an actor, athlete and aesthete in Nazi-occupied Poland to his rise in the ranks of the Catholic Church, his election as pope at the age of 58, the 1981 assassination attempt on his life and up through his last days.
"The stuff of his youth was full of real peril and witnessing many extraordinary things," observes Voight, who points out that co-star CARY ELWES "[has] got the action part and I've got the elder statesman part -- the papal part."
This isn't the first time that Jon was slated to play the Catholic leader. "Something happened in the '80s," he tells Mary. "I was offered a piece he had written before he was pope. They sent a bunch of names to him and he selected me to play him. It didn't come to be, but when I was offered this one, I felt, 'Well, maybe he's got his hand on me a little bit.'"
While Jon plays the pope in his later years, Cary stars as the pontiff in his younger days.
"I was blessed enough to meet Pope John Paul when I was about 19 or 20 years old in the Vatican; I had that privilege," Elwes tells ET. "My mother took me to visit him and I remember distinctly his incredible charisma and personal charm and his warmth and compassion. You felt it immediately the minute you met him, and that spirit I came away with, having met the man, is something that I've been constantly working on to infuse the character with."
So what was it like to watch the movie at the Vatican with the new pope?
"It was an amazing experience," Jon relates. "Seven thousand people were there. At one point, I was able to check the pope's responses from where I was sitting, and I could see he was moved several times. We met and he was very warm to me."
Watch ET for more with Jon Voight and Cary Elwes as "Pope John Paul II." Then tune in to CBS Sunday, December 4 at 9 p.m. for part one and Wednesday, December 7 at 8 p.m. for the conclusion.
Watching and enjoying it BUMP.
Apparently there are two movies about Pope John Paul. I'm watching the one on ABC now called "Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II".
Thanks. It looks good.
I wasn't able to devote time for the ABC movie tonight, unfortunately. I just caught the tail-end of it... it looked very good. I guess I'll try to watch the two-part CBS movie. Thanks for the heads up. :o)
I enjoyed the ABC movie, but one of the Catholic newspapers said the CBS movie was even better, so set your VCR/DVD if you aren't able to watch it "live."
Thanks for that endorsement. Will do! :o)
Ugh. Missed both. Any reviews?
Different one. This one's ABC. The CBS version airs next week. Last night's was pretty decent. The actor looked a lot like JPII.
I thought it was actually pretty well done. It's scary how much the actor really looked like him in his younger days, of course they did a big-time makeup job for his older days.
I just can't fathom Angelina Jolie's Dad playing the Pope.
It was pretty well done if you already knew most of the story.
When is the CBS movie on?
Have you seen the Hallmark version? Now that is an EXCELLENT movie, my favorite so far. Wish I could get a copy of it.
You missed Part I, as it was on yesterday; however, Part II will be on either Tues. or Wed. on CBS. I'm sure Part II will have some review of Part I.
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