{"id":6050,"date":"2015-03-24T11:32:30","date_gmt":"2015-03-24T15:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=6050"},"modified":"2015-03-24T11:32:30","modified_gmt":"2015-03-24T15:32:30","slug":"muslim-actor-haaz-sleiman-on-portraying-jesus-in-natgeos-killing-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/03\/muslim-actor-haaz-sleiman-on-portraying-jesus-in-natgeos-killing-jesus.html","title":{"rendered":"Muslim actor Haaz Sleiman on portraying Jesus in NatGeo&#8217;s &#8220;Killing Jesus&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"First Look | Killing Jesus\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/N5W3FKCN8Z0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>A Muslim perspective on Jesus.<\/strong> I attended the red-carpet event for <em>Killing Jesus<\/em> at Lincoln Center last night. The film, shot in Morocco and based on the bestselling book by Fox News host Bill O&#8217;Reilly, focuses on the political intrigue leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. <strong>The film premieres on National Geographic Channel this Sunday (Palm Sunday) at 8:00 PM (ET).<\/strong> The cast includes Stephen Moyer as Pontius Pilate, Kelsey Grammer as King Herod, John Rhys-Davies as <a href=\"http:\/\/biblehub.com\/john\/18-13.htm\">Annas<\/a>, Rufus Sewell as the high priest Caiaphas and, quite interestingly, the Islamic actor Haaz Sleiman (<em>Covert Affairs<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>Muslims, of course, believe Jesus to be a great prophet but not to be the Son of God. I had the opportunity to talk briefly with Sleiman, who projects a very warm and kind demeanor, about the reaction he has received from both the Christian and Muslim communities.<\/p>\n<p>He replied by saying that from both sides he has received &#8220;so much support, beautiful support.&#8221; He adds &#8220;You know, there are few here and there from both sides that were just either not happy about it or had their opinions and I love that &#8212; because that means we are doing the right thing. Whenever you create some sort of disturbance in the air, there&#8217;s an awakening that happens, an opportunity for a conversation, an opportunity to build bridges, specifically, an opportunity to connect different groups that typically wouldn&#8217;t connect with one another&#8230;For me, a wonderful example is when you see a rabbi sitting with a priest sitting with an Islamic (cleric) and they only have love. They&#8217;re\u00a0 coming from a place of love of one another and respect even if they disagree about certain things that are fundamental in their beliefs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The UAE-born actor who grew up in Lebanon is busy this TV pilot season with a role in ABC&#8217;s\u00a0Biblically-themed saga <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/live-feed\/biblical-crime-terrorism-arms-dealing-754775\">Of Kings and Profits<\/a> <\/em>that&#8217;s shooting in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll post my review of <em>Killing Jesus<\/em> on Friday.<\/p>\n<p><em>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em><strong>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. A Muslim perspective on Jesus. I attended the red-carpet event for Killing Jesus at Lincoln Center last night. The film, shot in Morocco and based on the bestselling book by Fox News host Bill O&#8217;Reilly, focuses on the political intrigue leading up to the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4235,1085,17,19,20,21,24,26,31],"tags":[3951,35,8119,8113,8123,8117,8116,8122,8120,8118,8115,8121,8114],"class_list":["post-6050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-easter","category-forgiveness","category-interfaith-dialogue","category-islam","category-journalism","category-judaism","category-movies","category-politics","category-television","tag-killing-jesus","tag-1-thessalonians-511","tag-abcs-biblically-themed-saga-of-kings-and-profits","tag-fox-news-host-bill-oreilly","tag-haaz-sleiman","tag-john-rhys-davies","tag-kelsey-grammer","tag-lincoln-center","tag-nbcs-suspense-drama-endgame","tag-rufus-sewell","tag-stephen-moyer","tag-wesley-snipes","tag-y"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Muslim actor Haaz Sleiman on portraying Jesus in NatGeo&#039;s &quot;Killing Jesus&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/03\/muslim-actor-haaz-sleiman-on-portraying-jesus-in-natgeos-killing-jesus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Muslim actor Haaz Sleiman on portraying Jesus in NatGeo&#039;s &quot;Killing Jesus&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. A Muslim perspective on Jesus. I attended the red-carpet event for Killing Jesus at Lincoln Center last night. The film, shot in Morocco and based on the bestselling book by Fox News host Bill O&#8217;Reilly, focuses on the political intrigue leading up to the&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/03\/muslim-actor-haaz-sleiman-on-portraying-jesus-in-natgeos-killing-jesus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-24T15:32:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. 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The film, shot in Morocco and based on the bestselling book by Fox News host Bill O&#8217;Reilly, focuses on the political intrigue leading up to the&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/03\/muslim-actor-haaz-sleiman-on-portraying-jesus-in-natgeos-killing-jesus.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2015-03-24T15:32:30+00:00","author":"John W. 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Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6051,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6050\/revisions\/6051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}