{"id":44780,"date":"2025-06-11T09:58:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T13:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=44780"},"modified":"2025-06-11T09:58:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T13:58:28","slug":"stephen-colbert-applauds-female-jesus-portrayal-long-overdue-role-sparks-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2025\/06\/stephen-colbert-applauds-female-jesus-portrayal-long-overdue-role-sparks-debate.html","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert Applauds Female Jesus Portrayal: &#8216;Long Overdue&#8217; Role Sparks Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_44783\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44783\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/06\/Colbert-Erivo_credit-Left-Eugene-Powers-Shutterstock-Right-DFree-Shutterstock.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-44783\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2025\/06\/Colbert-Erivo_credit-Left-Eugene-Powers-Shutterstock-Right-DFree-Shutterstock.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44783\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Eugene Powers \/ Shutterstock.com | Right: DFree \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Late-night host and outspoken Roman Catholic Stephen Colbert is stirring conversation in Christian circles after enthusiastically praising actress Cynthia Erivo&#8217;s upcoming portrayal of Jesus, a casting choice he called &#8220;long overdue.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>During a recent interview on <em>The Late Show<\/em>, Colbert expressed excitement over the Tony-winning actress, who identifies as bisexual and uses they\/them pronouns, playing Jesus in <em>Jesus Christ Superstar<\/em> at the Hollywood Bowl this August.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;One of my favorite musicals of all time is <em>Jesus Christ Superstar<\/em>,&#8221; Colbert told Erivo. &#8220;I love that \u2014 and I&#8217;m so excited that in August, you&#8217;re going to be playing Jesus\u2026 First woman to play Jesus in a major production. Long overdue. I&#8217;ve said for years I&#8217;d love to see a woman in that part.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jgFt0C_s-po?si=aartbKNNzSsISMm5\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Erivo, who previously portrayed Mary Magdalene in an all-female version of the rock opera in 2020, shared that the role is deeply meaningful to them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think the idea that I can play this role, and I&#8217;ve been given the opportunity to play it in front of so many people at that place, at this time of my life, is a very special thing,&#8221; Erivo said. &#8220;It&#8217;s the first time I&#8217;ve been on stage in that way for a long time, so to do it with this role is awesome.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Colbert also acknowledged the vocal and physical demands of portraying Jesus in the rock musical. &#8220;It&#8217;s an incredibly demanding part,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but you obviously have the range.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The upcoming production, set for Los Angeles, features a diverse and unconventional cast, including singer Adam Lambert, who will portray Judas Iscariot. Lambert, known for his rise on <em>American Idol<\/em> and his openly gay identity, has also drawn attention to the casting.<\/p>\n<p>Reactions to Erivo&#8217;s portrayal of Christ have been mixed \u2014 and in some cases, highly critical. Pastor John K. Amanchukwu Sr. condemned the casting, calling it &#8220;blasphemy&#8221; and stating that Erivo is &#8220;too bald, brown and bi[sexual]&#8221; to depict Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>The show itself has a long history of controversy. First released as a concept album in 1970 by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, <em>Jesus Christ Superstar<\/em> debuted on Broadway in 1971 and was later adapted into a film. It has often been criticized for portraying Judas Iscariot in a sympathetic light and omitting the Resurrection \u2014 a foundational belief in the Christian faith.<\/p>\n<p>Colbert&#8217;s praise for the casting came just a day after he criticized the Trump administration during his opening monologue for not recognizing Pride Month. The segment highlighted his continued efforts to merge his faith with progressive activism, a balance that often draws both admiration and backlash.<\/p>\n<p>For Erivo, however, the role represents more than just a performance \u2014 it&#8217;s a moment of visibility and artistic challenge. &#8220;To do it at the Hollywood Bowl, in a story that&#8217;s so rich and controversial, is a big deal,&#8221; they said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Late-night host and outspoken Roman Catholic Stephen Colbert is stirring conversation in Christian circles after enthusiastically praising actress Cynthia Erivo&#8217;s upcoming portrayal of Jesus, a casting choice he called &#8220;long overdue.&#8221; During a recent interview on The Late Show, Colbert expressed excitement over the Tony-winning actress, who identifies as bisexual and uses they\/them pronouns, playing&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":44783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Stephen Colbert Applauds Female Jesus Portrayal: &#039;Long Overdue&#039; Role Sparks Debate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stephen Colbert praises Cynthia Erivo as Jesus in &quot;Jesus Christ Superstar&quot;, sparking backlash over faith and progressive casting choices.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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