Humanity Beneath the Halo

Nov. 22, 2006 — -- How do you make a movie about the birth of Jesus that connects with today's audiences?

How do you make Mary and Joseph more than saintly icons?

That was the challenge that the creators of "The Nativity Story" took on in telling this best-known holiday season story.

Mike Rich, a veteran Hollywood screenwriter for movies such as "Finding Forrester," "Radio" and "The Rookie," is also a man of faith who felt that what had been missing from this story was a sense of who these people were.

"It's always been told almost from a purely chronologically standpoint -- that certain events happened," he said. "And we don't look at the individuals. We don't put a human face on these people."

Catherine Hardwicke, director of "Thirteen" and "Lords of Dogtown," brought her vision to directing the film.

"It's more personal. I think it's more human," she said. "The humanity beneath the halos is what we were going for. Epic intimacy."

Hardwicke's previous movies portrayed a frank and sometimes disturbing picture of American teenagers, and the struggles and challenges unique to their age.

At first glance, this background may not have made her the obvious choice to direct "The Nativity Story," but Hardwicke is quick to point out that the film is about the most famous teenager in history.

"Mary, according to most scholars, was 13 or 14 years old at the time," she said. "I thought what if the girls I know, kids I know today, would experience something this powerful and daunting and amazing and challenging? How would they deal with it?"

How indeed. For Oscar Isaac, a Hollywood newcomer from The Juilliard School, who plays Joseph in "The Nativity Story," the only word to describe his character in the Bible is "righteous."

"How do you play righteous?" Isaac said. "What I held on to was he is a man who is utterly and completely in love with this woman when he looks at her. You could say that's a godly love. It's a humble love. But it's love."