Image – Shutterstock: Mel Gibson & Danny Glover at AMMI Tribute in 2002
Mel Gibson’s long-awaited sequel to The Passion of the Christ has run into controversy before filming has even finished, after one of its new stars was revealed to be an outspoken pro-abortion campaigner.
The original 2004 film, which depicted the final hours of Jesus Christ’s life and grossed more than £450 million worldwide, became one of the highest-earning religious films in history. Its follow-up, The Resurrection of the Christ, is now being filmed in Rome with an entirely new cast. Finnish actor Jaakko Ohtonen is set to play Jesus, Cuban actress Mariela Garriga will portray Mary Magdalene, and Polish-born Kasia Smutniak will take on the role of the Virgin Mary.
It’s Smutniak’s casting that has caused the most division. The 46-year-old actress, who was born in Warsaw and now lives in Italy is a prominent supporter of abortion and has previously taken part in Poland’s Strajk Kobiet (Women’s Strike) movement, which campaigned against the country’s strong legal protections for unborn children.
Reports in the Polish press say that supporters of the conservative Law and Justice Party have written to Gibson’s Icon Productions to object to her inclusion, describing the casting as “blasphemous.” Some campaigners have also sought support from conservative American commentators, arguing that choosing a pro-abortion activist to play the mother of Christ undermines the film’s spiritual pertinence.
The actress has openly shared those views on social media. Following the overturning of Roe vs Wade by the US Supreme Court in 2022 she wrote that “men deciding over a woman’s body” showed society was “going back to the darkest places of our history”.
Whilst some have defended her right to hold her opinions, others have questioned whether personal beliefs so strongly at odds with the film’s subject matter are compatible with such a symbolic role.
The contrast in outlooks among those linked to the film isn’t novel. The original actor for Jesus, Jim Caviezel, is a devout Catholic who has spoken publicly in defence of unborn life and against abortion. Monica Bellucci, who played Mary Magdalene in the 2004 production, has taken a different view, saying she supports legal access to abortion and regards efforts to restrict it as misguided.
Equally, people who didn’t hold Christian convictions don’t necessarily have to leave without them. Pietro Sarubbi, who played Barabbas in The Passion of the Christ, converted to Christianity after filming the role. He said that when he looked into Jim Caviezel’s eyes during his scene with Jesus he felt “an electric current” of love and mercy. The moment, he explained, changed his life completely. Sarubbi later devoted himself to his newfound faith, leaving behind years of spiritual searching.
Still, for many the controversy creates a new fear: a film about the one who defeated death now risks being overshadowed by those who advocate for it.
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