Catholic Director of Netflix Film ‘Mary’ Aims to Celebrate the Blessed Mother — and St. Joseph, Too (2024)

INTERVIEW: ‘My hopes are that people watch the movie and they feel much closer to Mary … to have a deeper appreciation for the beauty, the love and the light that is Mary.’

DJ Caruso is a movie director whose latest film is Mary, about the Blessed Virgin Mary. The film chronicles Our Lady’s early life through the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt. The biblical epic will premiere on Netflix on Dec. 6. A native of Norwalk, Connecticut, Caruso, who is Catholic, went to college in California, where he then turned to filmmaking as a director, producer and writer. He is most known for thriller and action films.

Early in his career, he was hired by Steven Spielberg to direct the thrillers Disturbia (2007) and Eagle Eye (2008).

Spielberg is not the only well-known person to take notice. So has Pope Francis. As Caruso said, “We got invited to the Vatican because he wants to meet the filmmaker behind the Mary movie. So I’m very excited that I’m going to spend time with the Pope.” In November, before heading off to Rome in December, Caruso spoke with the Register about Mary.

Why did you decide to make this particular movie about our Blessed Mother?

I was really, really determined to tell the story. I felt like her story is underappreciated. We all have been conditioned to understand the Nativity story, and I was really moved by the idea of telling a story from her perspective: what it was like to be her, and going through all this from a child, and to the birth [of Christ], and everything. But just really to say, here’s this young woman who faced adversity, had some doubts, had some fears, but ultimately accepts this beautiful fiat, that acceptance from God, and takes them into her heart.

I wanted to inspire, particularly younger viewers, to say, “Wow, Mary could be my friend. A lot of what she went through is contemporary and what's happening in the world today. I know she's this iconic, beautiful, holy mother who we all venerate, but at the same time, she was also a young woman like I was; she had to make these decisions, and she had to go through these things.” I wanted to make her human and relatable so that people would embrace her and even love her more than they do.

It sounds like you're devoted to Mary. Tell us about your Catholic faith.

I am devoted to Mary. I’m Catholic. I was raised Catholic in Norwalk, Connecticut, stayed Catholic my whole life and stayed with the Church. We’re a family of five. We are a very strong Catholic family. Everyone’s gone to Catholic schools. We love it. And obviously, particularly being Catholic and praying to Mary, and understanding her as an intercessor, it’s vital to who we are as a family and to our faith. So, for me, [that’s why I wanted] to make a movie to celebrate her.

How did you come to choose the way you present Mary?

I’ve always admired what Mel [Gibson] did with The Passion [of the Christ] because, obviously, it humanized Christ and the pain that he suffered and everything he went through. Well, the real origin of this story starts with Mary, doesn’t it? So how can I tell a story that’s compelling and makes her human and accessible?

She’s so vital, and she’s so important in life. A good friend of mine, Bishop David O’Connell, from Los Angeles, who passed away two years in February, was really instrumental in bringing Mary into our lives and was always saying, “She’s there for you. You just need to talk to her. She’s your connection to Christ. And if you go through her, all good things will happen.”

That, over the course of the past five years, has been instilled in me. And so I wanted to make a movie to celebrate what a remarkable young woman she was.

The only big name in the cast is Sir Anthony Hopkins. Why did you choose mostly relative unknowns, like the actress and actor who play Joseph and Mary, for your cast?

If you went with star power to play Mary or to play Joseph, I really do think it would be a mistake.

I think Noa [Cohen] and Ido [Tako] are such a revelation that it makes them endearing. It was great to bring two fresh faces that are actually from the region where Mary and Joseph were born and putting them in roles and presenting them to the world. It’s a fresher take, and the audience will be more accepting of them in the movie than if it was a movie star.

Why did you use input from clergy and theologians across the board — Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim?

I think it was important because I’m going to come from our strong Catholic perspective, and I’m always going to try to do that. I guess it’s always going to be controversial, but I wanted Mary to be accessible to everybody who loves her, everyone who can accept her and [venerate] her. Obviously, we [venerate] her in a way that others might not.

But I didn’t want to close the door on just one specific thing, because this is a movie to celebrate Mary, this young, powerful girl, and to make her human. I wanted to stick to the Scriptures as the foundation of what we needed to do, and then go look at the Protoevangelium of James, then Josephus the historian, who had a lot on Herod. So we created the narrative using these scholars and making sure it’s not a documentary, obviously. But we wanted to make sure we were paying homage and doing things correctly. That was very important to get it right. We wanted Mary for everyone … accessible to all believers and nonbelievers as well.

Many people envision St. Joseph as so much older than Mary. But you get the age much closer to hers.

I’m so glad you’re saying that because I also feel, even for the younger audiences, they’re seeing that Mary and Joseph are young adults, and it’s exciting to them because it's not an old man pulling Mary around on a donkey, protecting like a father figure, in a way. It’s two young people that are in this together. That was definitely my intent because I think it can open up her story.

Also, my dear friend Bishop David O’Connell, who was helping me, told me specifically, “DJ, please give Joseph a voice. He doesn’t have a voice in any of the Scriptures, and he’s such a pivotal figure. He is the unsung hero of the Gospel, and he doesn’t get any love because he doesn’t say anything. But please give him a voice. Think about what he had to go through and what he had to stand up against, and how he had to fight the mob, and how he had to understand and do the right thing. Think about how brave he was to stand up to this mob and to say, ‘Don’t stone this woman.’ He’s going to go against the grain, which is so hard for these kids to do today.”

The bishop was saying he’d be such a great role model for all of these young men to say, “Look, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to stand up for what’s right and what I believe in. I’m not going to be forced by the mobs to do something that they think I’m supposed to do.”

That was probably his most important message to me: “Please give Joseph a voice and make him the hero that he is.” So that was one of the goals I set out for.

You could probably see his influence in creating for Joseph a three-dimensional character that people could understand and love. I think it’s the first time in a film that you can see the Mary-Joseph relationship flourish; you can see them growing closer together, based on what their mission was and what they had to do.

How do you stay close to Mary?

I pray the Rosary. My wife prays the Rosary. Some of our kids [pray] the Rosary. When Bishop David O’Connell passed away, his family gifted me his dog he would take on a walk every morning, and he would only finish the walk when he finished the Rosary. Every morning when I take Quito out, I don’t always have the time to do the Rosary, but I [pray] two Hail Marys and two Our Fathers. Hail Marys are a huge part of my day.

What are you most pleased with — what stands out most for you — about the movie Mary?

I think I’m most pleased with the idea — just from the feedback that I’m getting — that, yes, Mary was blessed. Yes, Mary was chosen. But she has to accept that. In the fear, she has to say, “Okay, I’m in.” She lets God into her heart. I think people seeing the film are realizing that she’s making a choice. She’s making a choice that we all need to make. Making this choice doesn’t mean her life is going to be any easier. But in order to do amazing, great things, you have to make that choice.

When I shot that [Annunciation] scene and Gabriel came to her and then she basically said, “Let it be done to me. Let it be me,” I teared up and realized that that was the reason. … I realized at that moment that was why I was making the movie, because that revelation was like, she made that choice, and it’s a choice we all need to make, and if we can get that message out ... and everyone’s looking at the film [pre-screenings] and saying, “This is really cool. I didn’t think a biblical epic would look this way or be this cool.” And if the younger audiences can now get closer and feel closer to Mary, then the movie is a success, to me.

What are your ultimate hopes for the movie? What would you like to see it do?

My hopes are that people watch the movie and they feel much closer to Mary. I think there’s this relationship that is very vital and very important. I love for people to relate to Mary, the Holy Mother, more — and to see her as a friend, to see her as a contemporary in a way that she had to struggle and go through the things that a lot of people in this world do — but to see her as the hero that she really is and to have a deeper appreciation for the beauty, the love and the light that is Mary. That was my one goal.

Catholic Director of Netflix Film ‘Mary’ Aims to Celebrate the Blessed Mother — and St. Joseph, Too (2024)

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