Pope John Paul II

Plot:

One of several dramatized tributes to the late pontiff to be telecast in 2005, the two-part CBS biopic Pope John Paul II is a remake of a popular Italian miniseries, and was filmed on location in Italy and Poland. The film begins with the attempted assassination of the pope on May 13, 1981, whereupon the story of the man once known as Karol Wojtyla is unfolded in flashback. The familiar highlights of Pope John Paul II's life and work are vividly realized: his early theatrical aspirations, his staunch resistance of both the Nazis and the Communist party in his native Poland, his meteoritic rise through the church ranks (at 38, he was his country's youngest bishop), and his ultimate ascendance to the Vatican throne in 1978. Also, this is one of the few English-language films to officer a meticulous recreation of the papal election process. Throughout much of the film, the pope's career is firmly linked with that of his countryman, Polish labor leader Lech Walesa; it can be inferred that without the input of both men, Poland would never have freed itself from Communist domination, nor would the Soviet empire have ultimately fallen. Cary Elwes plays John Paul from ages 18 through 50, whereupon Elwes morphs (quite literally, thanks to a brief -- and controversial -- special-effect sequence) into Jon Voight, who takes over as the older pope. Pope John Paul II was first telecast in two parts on December 4 and 7, 2005.

Cast:

Jon Voight as Pope John Paul II / Karol Wojtyla
Cary Elwes as Young Karol Wojtyla
James Cromwell as Cardinal Adam Sapieha
Christopher Lee as Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski
Ben Gazzara as Cardinal Agostino Casaroli
Daniele Pecci as Roman
Vittoria Belvedere as Eva
Giuliano Gemma as Navarro Valls
Ettore Bassi as Gapa
Wenanty Nosul as Stanislaw Dziwisz
Stefano Molinari as SS Officer
Valeria Cavalli as Teresa
Bartosz Glogowski as SS Officer
Chiara Conti as Anna
Bianca Nappi as Vittoria
Giulietta Revel as Halina
Giovanna Nodari as Nurse
Fabrizio Bucci as Krysztof Zachuta
Alessandro Demcenko as First Young Doctor (as Alesandro Demcenko)
Beata Ben Ammar as Beate
Luca Capuano as Jeep Clerk #1
Andy Luotto as Homeless Man
Luca Di Prospero as Jeep Clerk #2
Marcin Kuzminski as Mikal
Allan Caister as Neurologist
Robert Gonera as Tadeusz
Maurizio Di Carmine as Older Doctor
Maciej Marczewski as Marek
Michael Fitzpatrick as Orthopedic Surgeon
Krzysztof Pieczynski as Czerny
Stefano Venturi as Parish Priest
Christopher Good as Cardinal Konig
Guido Roncalli as Pope's Doctor
Michele Alhaique as Young Waiter (as Michelle Alhaique)
Krzysztof Janczar as Dobry
Giampiero Rotoli as Second Young Doctor
Juliusz Chrzastowski as Jerzy
Giorgia Porchetti as Woman
Carlo Sabatini as Master of Ceremonies
Mariusz Sibiga as Dashkov (as Marcin Sibiga)
Jean Paul Buana as African Journalist
Jacek Lenartowicz as Lech Walesa
Marcus J. Cotterell as American Journalist
Giacomo Piperno as Cardinal Felici
Fabrizio Rogano as British Journalist
Mikolaj Grabowski as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Wlodzimierz Chrenkoff as Communist Sec. Officer
Paolo Paolini as Cardinal Villot
Dimitri Tamarov as Elderly Cardinal
Vanni Corbellini as Cynical Journalist
Sergio Nicolai as First Cardinal
Francis Pardeilhan as Engineer
Luis Molteni as Second Cardinal
Carla Verolo as Eva's Mother
Roberto Nobile as Third Cardinal
Tadeusz Bradecki as Father Kozlowski
Andrzej Blumenfeld as Gierek Edward
Luca Lombardi as French Journalist
Robert Mazurkiewicz as Captain
Edward Zentana as Gestapo Officer
Pietro Sarubbi as José Lopez Portillo
Zaneta Babik as Little Girl
Nicola Pistoia as Cardinal De Furstenberg
Lidia Duda as Little Girl's Mother
Ronald Dudley Grant as African Cardinal
Adrian Ochalik as Lukash
Andrzej Zarnecki as Prof. Kriek (as Adrzej Zarnechi)
Alessandro Zamattio as Gestapo Officer
Harald Posch as Hans Frank
Mariapia Cassarino as Tyranowski
Slawomir Sosnierz as Older Nun
Alicja Bienicewicz as Older Nun (as Alicia Bienicewicz)
Ewa Zytkiewicz as Andrei Gromyko
Cyrus Elias as Polish Man
Maria Bosco as Sister Lucia
Dominik Nowak as Crucitti
Giulio Base as Pope Paul VI
Michele Gammino as Leonid Brezhnev
Eddie Roberts as SB Roberts
Slawomir Zapala as Seminarian Wiktor Loga / Sharczwoeski
Fabrizio Jovine as Yuri Andropov
Elisabetta Tucci as Sister Katerina
Andrzej Szopa as Mikhail Gorbachev
Claudio Spadaro as Soviet Leader
Bruce McGuire as US Embassy Official
Ennio Tozzi as Theatre Director
Agneska Popkiewicz as Woman Screaming
Wojciech Leonowicz as Edmund (as Wojciech Leonowocz)
Krzys Kremieniecki as Young Boy 12 Yrs Old
Izabela Kuna as Emilia Wojtylowa
Klara Bielawka as Younger Nun
Ryszard Radwanski as Gomulka
Valentina Capone as Second Nurse
Maciej Kepika as Young Karol 12 Yrs Old
Zygmunt Jozetczak as Bishop Baziak
Marc Fiorini as Professor La Pira (as Mark Fiorini)
Pierpaolo Lovino as Ambulance Driver
Paula Carboni as Sister Tobiana
David Traylor as First Worker (as David Zed)
Marta Król as Danuta (as Marta Krol)
Raffaela Latagiata as Second Worker
Gabriella Barbuti as Roman's Wife
Romuald Andrzej Klos as Third Worker (as Romuald Klos)
Daniele Petruccioli as Thomas
Andrea Bosca as Guard
Michal Dworczyk as Anna's Boyfriend (Piotr)
Wojciech Kowman as Sec. Officer Poland (as Wojtek Kowman)
Agnieszka Mandat-Grabka as Dobry's Wife (as Agnieszka Mandat)
Maciej Malysa as Young Priest
Pawel Kacprzycki as First Seminarian (as Pawél Kasprzycki) rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maciej Lusnia as Father Zacher
Ted Rusoff as Iman of Sarajevo
Massimiliano Ubaldi as Ali agca
Ben Talar as Student (uncredited)