WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | APRIL 15 - 21, 2022 | 21
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Epic religious movies provided insight for writer’s greatest role Craig S. Semon Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
“Do not weep for me,” thought I as I looked at the mob. “Weep for yourselves.” This Good Friday marks the 20th Anniversary of me doing my fi rst public acting job, portraying Jesus during a two-hour, citywide walk of Fitchburg for the Stations of the Cross. I had the honor of doing this four years in a row, with my fi nal Jesus walk on Good Friday 2005. I didn’t get paid, nor did I earn my SAG card. But what I received from the experience was priceless. Being a lifelong Catholic who was baptized, had his fi rst communion and confi rmation all at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Worcester, I had a lifetime of inspiration and experiences to draw upon. And being an avid watcher of religious movies, especially during Holy
Week, didn’t hurt either. In fact, as long I remember, I’ve watched yearly (and I will continue watch again and again every year), Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” as part of the ABC Sunday Night Movie with numerous commercial interruptions and edited for television because it has become a longstanding family tradition, even though a majority of my family have now gone to heaven. And, despite “The Ten Commandments” dealing with the life of Moses, Holy Week isn’t complete until I see Charlton Heston part the Red Sea, Edward G. Robinson accuse Moses of carving the Ten Commandments himself and Yul Brynner as Rameses acknowledging that Moses’ God is God. So let it be written. So let it be done. To prepare for the walk, I read the scriptures, memorized all the Stations, and repeatedly watched religious movies with moving crucifi xion scenes Charlton Heston parts the Red Sea as Moses in “The Ten Commandments.“ See MOVIES, Page 22
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