Chiwetel Ejiofor In Talks to Join Joaquin Phoenix's Jesus in MARY MAGDALENE Movie

Chiwetel Ejiofor has had my attention ever since he played The Operative in Joss Whedon's Serenity, and it's been cool to see him rise to fame in a big way over the past few years. I expect that mainstream ascent will continue with his appearance in Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange, but in the meantime, he's eyeing some smaller projects to continue to stretch his acting muscles.

Deadline reports that the 12 Years a Slave actor is in talks to join Mary Magdalene, a movie that has Rooney Mara in the title role and Joaquin Phoenix lined up to play Jesus Christ. Ejiofor would play the apostle Peter, Jesus' lead disciple who famously denied him three times and was forgiven after the resurrection. The film is being directed by Garth Davis (Lion), and is described as "an authentic and humanistic portrait of one of the most enigmatic and misunderstood spiritual figures in history."

I don't know anything about Davis as a filmmaker, but he's assembled a pretty interesting and unexpected cast for this movie. According to the Bible, Mary Magdalene attended Jesus' crucifixion and was the first to discover his empty tomb after He was resurrected, and for some reason she's become widely recognized as a prostitute even though that description doesn't appear in any of the four gospels. I wonder what his take on her story will be like.