Earlier this month, we reported that Mel Gibson had recast the roles of Jesus Christ, Mary, and Mary Magdalene in his upcoming sequel to The Passion of the Christ. Now, this is blowing up in Gibson’s face, as the history of the new actress playing the role of Mary, mother of Jesus, has just come back to haunt her.
Backlash Over Mary Actress’s Activism
Fans were stunned earlier this month when it was announced that in The Resurrection of the Christ, Gibson has cast Jaakko Ohtonen as Jesus of Nazareth, Mariela Garriga as Mary Magdalene and Kasia Smutniak as Jesus’ mother Mary. The casting of Smutniak in particular is stirring up major controversy after her pro-abortion activism has surfaced.
Smutniak is a Polish-Italian actress and activist who openly supports the Strajk Kobiet (Women’s Strike) movement. This organization campaigns against the strict abortion laws in Poland.
Smutniak, 46, regularly shares pro-abortion content to her social media pages.
“Today we are celebrating the 102nd anniversary of gaining electoral rights by Polish women,” Smutniak wrote on Instagram in 2020. “There is a lot to celebrate girls! Although we are forced to continue fighting for our rights. Today, on the streets, at home and at work. We must remember that the right to vote was not given to us for free, out of a good heart. It was won thanks to the commitment, hard work and sometimes the total dedication of the first feminists.”
“Today we are celebrating the 102nd anniversary and today we are adding another page to our story,” she continued. “I hope our grandsons will read with amazement about the abortion ban in Poland as a failed attempt to return to the dark past.”
Conservatives Demand Gibson Take Action
Gibson’s publicist told Variety that he had not been aware of Smutniak’s pro-abortion activism when he cast her in the role of Mary. Now, conservative social media users are calling on Gibson to fire Smutniak and recast the part once again.
“Dear Mr. Mel Gibson, @MelGibsonQ would you really want Kasia Smutniak to play Mary, the mother of Jesus?” one social media user commented. “Please explain what this woman wants – all this inscriptions from her face. If she played this role, more than half of Poles would not watch your movie.”
“Should someone with such strong left-wing views and supporting for abortion play this role?” added another outraged social media user. “If she really played this role, more than half of Poles and Christians of all the world not watch this movie.”
Gibson Recasts Passion Sequel
In the original Passion of the Christ, which was released in 2004, the role of Mary was played by Maia Morgenstern, 63. Meanwhile, the role of Jesus was played by Jim Caviezel and Mary Magdalene was portrayed by Monica Bellucci, 61.
The Passion of the Christ follows the final twelve hours of Jesus Christ’s life. The sequel takes place three days later, when Jesus was resurrected. This tight timeframe left Gibson feeling like he had no choice but to recast these roles, as Caviezel and his co-stars have aged over 20 years since making the original film.
“It made sense to recast the whole film,” said a source close to the production. “They would have had to do all this CGI stuff, all this digital stuff — de-aging and all that — that would have been very costly.”
Social Media Outrage
Despite this, fans are still outraged that the roles were recast. They are particularly livid on the behalf of Caviezel, who fought for decades for this sequel to be made.
“Recasting Jesus is blasphemous work,” one livid fan commented. Another added, “Caveziel must be devastated. He’s been talking about this film since 2012.”
“I thought they were gonna use Jim And use CGI to make him look younger,” a third user wrote. A fourth commented, “Should’ve kept Jim Caviezel. Wonder why he left the film. Maybe script was too intense for him? Or too demanding? Idk, but Caviezel returning would made the film more powerful since you would’ve followed him from the first film.”
The Resurrection of the Christ is currently in production. It will be released in two parts, with part one coming out on Good Friday, March 26, 2027. It is set to be followed by the second part 40 days later on Ascension Day, May 6, 2027.
As of this writing, Smutniak is still portraying Mary in The Resurrection of the Christ. Only time will tell if she is able to keep this biblical role as the backlash over her pro-abortion activism continues!