The Last Temptation of Christ - actors, characters and roles

All actors and their roles in the film "The Last Temptation of Christ"
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Timing: 2:44 (164 min)
The Last Temptation of Christ - TMDB rating
7.211/10
1180
The Last Temptation of Christ - Kinopoisk rating
7.362/10
11345
The Last Temptation of Christ - IMDB rating
7.5/10
68000

Actors and characters

Photo Willem Dafoe #1916Photo Willem Dafoe #1917Photo Willem Dafoe #1918Photo Willem Dafoe #1919

Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe
Character Jesus
Photo Harvey Keitel #12562Photo Harvey Keitel #12563Photo Harvey Keitel #12564Photo Harvey Keitel #12565

Harvey Keitel

Harvey Keitel
Character Judas
Photo Paul Greco #92833
Paul Greco
Character Zealot
Photo Steve Shill #106952Photo Steve Shill #106953

Steve Shill

Steve Shill
Character Centurian
Photo Verna Bloom #100250Photo Verna Bloom #100251

Verna Bloom

Verna Bloom
Character Mary, Mother of Jesus
Photo Barbara Hershey #13109Photo Barbara Hershey #13110Photo Barbara Hershey #13111Photo Barbara Hershey #13112

Barbara Hershey

Barbara Hershey
Character Mary Magdalene
Photo Roberts Blossom #37307Photo Roberts Blossom #37308

Roberts Blossom

Roberts Blossom
Character Aged Master
Photo Barry Miller #76325Photo Barry Miller #76326

Barry Miller

Barry Miller
Character Jeroboam
Photo Gary Basaraba #5163

Gary Basaraba

Gary Basaraba
Character Andrew, Apostle
Photo Irvin Kershner #73634

Irvin Kershner

Irvin Kershner
Character Zebedee
Photo Victor Argo #46453

Victor Argo

Victor Argo
Character Peter, Apostle
Michael Been
Character John, Apostle
Photo Paul Herman #25116Photo Paul Herman #25117Photo Paul Herman #25118Photo Paul Herman #25119

Paul Herman

Paul Herman
Character Phillip, Apostle
Photo John Lurie #96801Photo John Lurie #96802

John Lurie

John Lurie
Character James, Apostle
Photo Leo Burmester #57121

Leo Burmester

Leo Burmester
Character Nathaniel, Apostle
Photo Andre Gregory #118777

Andre Gregory

Andre Gregory
Character John the Baptist
Photo Peggy Gormley #78868
Peggy Gormley
Character Martha, Sister of Lazarus
Photo Randy Danson #202481Photo Randy Danson #202482Photo Randy Danson #202483
Randy Danson
Character Mary, Sister of Lazarus
Photo Robert Spafford #333674
Robert Spafford
Character Man at Wedding
Photo Doris von Thury #202484Photo Doris von Thury #202485Photo Doris von Thury #202486
Doris von Thury
Character Woman with Mary, Mother of Jesus
Photo Tomas Arana #43163Photo Tomas Arana #43164

Tomas Arana

Tomas Arana
Character Lazarus / Crowd Member
Photo Alan Rosenberg #41078Photo Alan Rosenberg #41079

Alan Rosenberg

Alan Rosenberg
Character Thomas, Apostle
Photo Del Russel #118875
Del Russel
Character Money Changer
Photo Donald Hodson #202487Photo Donald Hodson #202488Photo Donald Hodson #202489
Donald Hodson
Character Saducee
Photo Peter Berling #82137

Peter Berling

Peter Berling
Character Beggar
Photo David Bowie #29495Photo David Bowie #29496Photo David Bowie #29497Photo David Bowie #29498

David Bowie

David Bowie
Character Pontius Pilatus
Juliette Caton
Character Girl Angel
Mohammed Mabsout
Character Other Apostles
Ahmed Nacir
Character Other Apostles
Mokhtar Salouf
Character Other Apostles
Mahamed Ait Fdil Ahmed
Character Other Apostles
Russel Case
Character People at Sermon
Mary Sellers
Character People at Sermon
Photo Donna Magnani #202490Photo Donna Magnani #202491Photo Donna Magnani #202492
Donna Magnani
Character Crowd Member (voice)
Photo Penny Brown #83121
Penny Brown
Character Crowd Member (voice)
Gabi Ford
Character Crowd Member (voice)
Photo Dale Wyatt #63093
Dale Wyatt
Character Crowd Member (voice)
Photo Domenico Fiore #117476Photo Domenico Fiore #117477Photo Domenico Fiore #117478

Domenico Fiore

Domenico Fiore
Character Crowd Member (voice)
Photo Ted Rusoff #93978

Ted Rusoff

Ted Rusoff
Character Crowd Member (voice)
Leo Damian
Character Crowd Member (voice)
Robert Laconi
Character Crowd Member (voice)
Jonathan Zhivago
Character Crowd Member (voice)
Photo Illeana Douglas #25111Photo Illeana Douglas #25112Photo Illeana Douglas #25113

Illeana Douglas

Illeana Douglas
Character Crowd Member (voice)
D.J. Sharp
Character Crowd Member (voice)
Khalid Benghrib
Character Dancer
Redouane Farhane
Character Dancer
Fabienne Panciatili
Character Dancer
Naima Skikes
Character Dancer
Souad Rahal
Character Dancer
Otmane Chbani Idrissi
Character Dancer
Jamal Belkhayat
Character Dancer
Photo Giovanni Cianfriglia #108429

Giovanni Cianfriglia

Giovanni Cianfriglia
Character Roman Soldier (uncredited)
Photo Martin Scorsese #9711Photo Martin Scorsese #9712Photo Martin Scorsese #9713Photo Martin Scorsese #9714

Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese
Character Isaiah (uncredited)

What's left behind the scenes

  • 'The Last Temptation of Christ' is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis.
  • The epigraph to the film is a quote from Nikos Kazantzakis: 'The dual nature of Christ – the greatest human desire to know God, a desire so human and at the same time so inhuman… has always been an unfathomable mystery to me. From early youth, my deepest suffering and the source of all my joys and torments has been the ceaseless and relentless battle between spirit and flesh… and my soul has been the arena where these two armies met and clashed.'.
  • Scorsese first attempted to film the book back in 1983. Filming of the film, with a budget of around $20 million, began at Paramount Pictures. Aidan Quinn was to play Jesus, Harvey Keitel – Judas, Sting – Pontius Pilate. Hardly started, filming was halted, despite the $3 million already spent. This happened after a series of letters to the film company's management from extremist Christian organizations. The creators of the film were accused of anti-Semitism and attempting to convey their interpretation of the biblical theme with homosexual motives. This story deeply affected the director, and he even considered moving to Europe and switching to documentary filmmaking. In an interview, Scorsese bitterly noted that Hollywood cinema had become completely commercialized and said: 'I hope that someday I will still make 'The Last Temptation…', but not in this country and not with this country's money. That's it. Forget about it. This film has nothing to do with the American film industry.' In 1987, Scorsese began working with a new agent, Michael Ovitz. Ovitz, who enjoyed great authority and connections in the film world, was able to move the project off the ground. For the second time, Scorsese was able to interest Universal Pictures in the script. When one of the studio bosses asked the director why he decided to film a film on such a topic, Scorsese replied that he wanted to better understand the nature of Christ. The company agreed to provide funding for the project, but only on the condition that Scorsese's next film, made for Universal Pictures, would be purely commercial.
  • Martin Scorsese strictly forbade smoking on the set, because he himself is asthmatic, and to prevent anyone from photographing the actors and actresses in the guise of biblical characters – this especially applied to Willem Dafoe, who played Jesus, and who smoked incessantly – with a cigarette in his mouth.
  • Willem Dafoe couldn't see anything for three days because special eye drops were used on him, which dilated his pupils even in bright sunlight.
  • Martin Scorsese first read the novel “The Last Temptation” (1955) by Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957) when Barbara Hershey recommended it to him on the set of Scorsese’s second feature film (a 1972 crime melodrama called “Boxcar Bertha”). Years later, after learning that Scorsese was finally going to be able to film it, she called him and practically begged the director to cast her as Mary Magdalene. Scorsese even held a screen test with her, so the actress wouldn't think he was casting her out of gratitude for recommending the source novel many years ago.
  • The film’s budget was quite modest, so in the scene in the temple, when it seems like Roman soldiers are approaching Christ from all sides, the same five soldiers were used in all the shots.
  • The film’s budget was so tight that they had to save on everything. There weren't enough makeup artists on set, and Barbara Hershey had to fix her own mendhi (henna body art; unlike tattoos, it is a temporary decoration, but lasts much longer than paint, etc.) herself, as it kept smudging under the scorching sun.
  • According to Martin Scorsese, the film's final shot was due to chance. Due to some defect, light entered the camera and hit the film, creating a white haze just at the moment of Jesus’s death.
  • Based on the real story of bank robber Brenden Abbott and his accomplice Brendan Berichon.
  • As an experienced stuntman, Nash Edgerton performed almost all of his own stunts in the chase scene.
  • Brenton Thwaites' character moves in criminal circles. In preparation for the role, the actor befriended a man who received a prison sentence at a very young age and spent most of his life behind bars. Thwaites adopted many traits from him.
  • "The Last Temptation of Christ" is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis.
  • The epigraph to the film is a quote by Nikos Kazantzakis: "The dual nature of Christ—man’s greatest longing to know God, a longing so human and yet so inhuman… has always been a mystery to me. From early youth, my deepest suffering and the source of all my joys and torments has been the ceaseless and merciless battle between spirit and flesh… and my soul has been the arena where these two armies met and clashed."
  • Scorsese first attempted to film an adaptation of the book in 1983. Filming began at Paramount Pictures with a budget of around $20 million. Aidan Quinn was to play Jesus, Harvey Keitel as Judas, and Sting as Pontius Pilate. The filming was halted shortly after starting, despite $3 million already being spent. This happened after a series of letters to the film company’s management from extremist Christian organizations. The filmmakers were accused of antisemitism and attempting to present their own interpretation of the biblical theme with homosexual undertones. This story deeply affected the director, and he even considered moving to Europe and switching to documentary filmmaking. In an interview, Scorsese bitterly noted that Hollywood cinema had become completely commercialized, saying: “I hope someday I will still film ‘The Last Temptation…’, but not in this country and not with this country’s money. That’s it. Forget about it. This film has nothing to do with the American film industry.” In 1987, Scorsese began working with a new agent, Michael Ovitz. Ovitz, who enjoyed great authority and connections in the film world, was able to get the project moving again. For the second time, Scorsese managed to interest Universal Pictures in the script. When one of the studio bosses asked the director why he decided to film a movie on such a topic, Scorsese replied that he wanted to better understand the nature of Christ. The company agreed to provide funding for the project, but only on the condition that Scorsese's next film for Universal Pictures would be strictly commercial.
  • Martin Scorsese strictly forbade smoking on the set because he himself has asthma, and to prevent anyone from photographing the actors and actresses in the guise of biblical characters – this especially applied to Willem Dafoe, who played Jesus and smoked incessantly – with a cigarette in his mouth.
  • Martin Scorsese first read the novel ‘The Last Temptation’ (1955) by Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957) when Barbara Hershey recommended the book to him while filming Scorsese’s second feature film (it was the 1972 crime melodrama ‘Boxcar Bertha’). After reading many years later that Scorsese had finally been given the opportunity to film this movie, she called him and literally begged the director to cast her as Mary Magdalene. Scorsese even held a screen test with her so that the actress would not think he was casting her out of gratitude for her recommending the source novel to him many years ago.
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