Back in late October, I spent three days hovering in the corners of The Temple in Jerusalem, or at least perched to the sides of an elaborate set in Ouarzazate, Morocco watching production on National Geographic's “Killing Jesus.”
I saw Haaz Sleiman's Jesus cast out some money lenders, watched Rufus Sewell's Caiaphas try to stir a mob against Jesus and witnessed Kelsey Grammer in priestly robes go up and down the same set of steps a dozen times.
The third NatGeo adaptation from Bill O'Reilly's “Killing” series was directed by Christopher Menual and written by Walon Green and its cast is about as eclectic as one could possibly imagine, featuring Vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer as Pontius Pilate), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies as Annas), Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui as Herodias) and NBC Motorcycle Doctor (Eoin Macken as Herod Antipas).
I'll have much more on “Killing Jesus” as we get closer the Sunday, March 29 premiere date announced this morning by National Geographic. The three-hour telefilm will premiere in 171 countries in 45 languages.
But first, exclusive to HitFix, check out your first pictures of seven “Killing Jesus” stars/characters: