The 69-year-old James Faulkner plays the titular character in the history-drama movie “Paul, Apostle Of Christ." It's a role he feels he was prepared for all his life, the Hollywood actor said in an exclusive interview with Bulletin Entertainment.
Scene from 'Paul, Apostle Of Christ'
The story of the movie sees Paul held captive in a Roman prison under Nero’s rule. Together with Luke, they will struggle against a determined emperor and the frailties of the human spirit in order to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and spread their message to the world.
The 30-day location shoot on the island of Malta for the movie began September last year. But getting to the point of cameras rolling was a years-long journey for writer and director Andrew Hyatt.
Like detectives, they also poured through biblical references to Paul’s life. Then, with all the research, they consulted with experts ranging from pastors to scholars to ensure the world they created — both the Biblical characters and characters created to tell the story — presented an authentic picture of the early Church in Rome.
Here’s our exchange with James:
How did you prepare for the role?
“Life prepared me for the role of Paul and a good knowledge of the New Testament. I was lucky enough to be brought up in the Anglican faith and I’m familiar with the New Testament.
“As you know, I was cast on short measures and didn’t have an enormous amount of time to prepare. But, I did read all of Paul’s lessons, which gave me an insight into the spirit and character of the man.
“Which I have not mentioned before is, I consulted a friend of mine who is a great deal more of an erudite than I who gave me a really good thumbnail sketch. And I could draw the resources of by better educated director and the screenwriter, Andrew Hyatt.”
What’s it like doing a drama history movie versus other genres?
“I simply institute phrase as a drama history movie, so many of my interviews I have been asked, the film has been purely viewed as a faith based film and in my opinion it should not be viewed as such. It is an art show which happens to record a moment in history that has been passed down to us through the millennia and using text drawn from scripture with which we are all familiar with, that in a sense immediately styles the film a faith based film. But it is not a faith-based film, it is an art film that records a powerful moment in history.”
What was the most challenging part in playing Paul?
“The challenging part in playing Paul is to contain the anger of the pugilist that was formed. Paul was a boxer, Saul was a boxer and, as such, a physically powerful man. And in his early life he’d be an enforcer for the Jewish faith and for the synagogue. He has a line ‘I was perfect in the ancient laws of Israel.’
“He then undergoes as we are all familiar with the Damascene moment, when he is struck down on the road to Damascus and the Lord spoke to him and asked him why he persecutes him and those are the crucial faith. Blinded at that moment, he recovers and seven years later he begins his ministry and to contain all of that and then to imagine the privations of 30 years of the world. He is shipwrecked thrice, he is stoned near to death twice, he is scourged and beaten and chased from time to time. To contain that physically in my being, in my walk, in my physicality, to contain and denounce the anger that was in Paul and turn that anger into love---and that was the challenge.
“The director gave me a fantastic note where he described Paul with his approach to other people, his comfort ability that what should be entirely comfortable in Paul’s presence although Paul was a difficult man and a complex man. The love that was within Paul made him comfortable to be around and he was able to communicate directly and a man who was particularly adroit at understanding the psychological make-up of his fellow man and conversion, the hatred within his fellow man into love and thereby achieving at the end of his life, at a moment which is extraordinary within the film to depict redemption of Paul.”
Did you gain a different perspective on the life of Paul and the times Jesus lived in?
“I did. I can honestly say by allowing the words and the personality as drawn by Andrew Hyatt to permeate within me that it has changed my views of people and of the world. I consider it an extraordinary privilege to be allowed to play a seminal character within the history of the Church and I would hope to be a better person for the experience.”
What’s the secret to your staying power in the entertainment industry for almost 50 year now? And what’s the most fulfilling part of your work?
“Profound good luck that I am accorded opportunities to continue with my work as a writer, I consider it a very important part of my development. I still see myself as being someone that’s in development. I hope I learn something of this world and of my craft every day that I live and I feel that I am very privileged to be able to continue to work with young actors, fresh actors, actors with different ideas, actors that show me different ways to approach a role. And I take from them as much I would hope as they gone off me and my experience of nearly 50 years in this profession.”
What else do you want to achieve in your career?
“I don’t have any specific goals. To me, the best job is the next job and that will allow me to experience a different aspect of life and of my personality; things I could bring to a role and the things fresh writing would bring and give to me. And if I could continue to work, I want to work every day. I enjoy my work hugely and that only grows with each fresh challenge that appears.
“I am often very frightened by a new material when it is offered to me, when I know I have to address it, I know I have to challenge myself and that keeps me current.”
The film "Paul, Apostle Of Christ" is showing in cinemas.