Playing Jesus: 7 Actors Who Have Portrayed Christ On Film

(PHOTO: GRACE HILL MEDIA)

Diogo Morgado portrays Jesus Christ in Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s “Bible” series which will premiere on The History Channel on March 3, 2013.

Jesus Christ, revered by billions around the globe as the Son of God and savior of the world, has been portrayed in film and on television for well over 100 years. Here are seven actors who have donned a beard and long robes to play the carpenter from Galilee and central figure of Christianity.

Diogo Morgado (2014)

While “Son of God” has yet to make its theatrical debut (Feb. 28), millions of viewers are already quite familiar with Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado due to his portrayal of Jesus in the History Channel’s “The Bible” series. Morgado, reprising his role as the Son of God in the PG-13 spin-off, not only won admirers for his acting in the 10-hour TV series, but picked up a few fans also because of his good looks — with some dubbing the star as “hot Jesus.

Jim Caviezel (2004)

“The Passion of the Christ,” top-grossing Christian film of all time that was produced by Mel Gibson, film features Jim Caviezel as the tortured and crucified Jesus. While the star picked up a few nominations and one award for his controversial role and the story in general was lauded, critics could not get over its graphic nature. The late Roger Ebert while praising the film, also wrote that “The Passion of the Christ” was “the most violent [film] I have ever seen.” The film critic suspected that it was the subject of Jesus that prompted the MPAA to give Gibson’s film an R rating, as opposed to a likely more deserved NC-17 rating.