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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The actor who plays Jesus Christ in the new "Ben-Hur" movie, which opens this weekend, says the blessing he received from Pope Francis was "unexpected" and "sublime."
Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro says it happened when he attended one of the pope's weekly general audiences during the filming last year.
Santoro says, "I was wearing a long beard, long hair. And he looked at me and I kind of felt the need to say, 'I am an actor. Congratulations for your work. I'm playing Jesus in a film.' And I couldn't even finish the sentence and he blessed me."
The new "Ben-Hur" is produced by the power couple behind "The Bible" miniseries, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, and it's more Christ-centered than the 1959 tale of power, loyalty and vengeance.
In the earlier version, Jesus was silent and his face unseen. The new "Ben-Hur" focuses more on redemption and the words of Jesus.
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