Jesus Christ is an important figure in the western world. He has been portrayed on television and movie screens for countless times. These are some of the major actors who have been cast to play him in those productions.
In 2016, award-winning singer-songwriter and “Telenovela” actor Jencarlos Canela stars in FOXs televised musical event, “The Passion Live.”
Long before he casts as Batman for Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” franchise, Christian Bale played Jesus Christ in the 1999 television film, “Mary, Mother of Jesus.”
In the 1999 film, “Superstar,” inspired by Molly Shannon’s popular SNL skit about a Roman Catholic schoolgirl, Will Ferrell played both her crush, popular boy Sky Corrigan, and Jesus.
American voice actor Chris Sarandon, who played both Prince Humperdinck in the “The Princess Bride” and Jack Skellington in “The Nightmare Before Christmas” — stepped into the serious role of Jesus in the 1980 American TV movie, “The Day Christ Died.”
Best known as Lord Voldemort in the “Harry Potter” films, Ralph Fiennes voiced the role of Jesus in the 2000 stop-motion animated film, “The Miracle-Maker.”
“Titanic” actor Victor Garber starred as Jesus Christ in the 1973 film adaptation of the off-Broadway musical, “Godspell.”
In 1988, Willem Dafoe played Jesus in “The Last Temptation of Christ”, adapted from Nikos Kazantzakis’ controversial 1953 novel.
In 2015, Keenan Thompson made a cameo as “black Jesus” in a “Saturday Night Live” skit about then-Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson’s rocky youth.
Jim Caviezel cast in a controversial movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” in 2004. He was previously best known as Jesus in “The Thin Red Line.”
In 2003, Henry Ian Cusick, the actor best known for playing Desmond in the popular TV series “Lost,” stepped into the role of Jesus in the three-hour epic feature film, “The Gospel of John.”
