NEW YORK, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Diogo Morgado has big sandals to fill.
The Portuguese actor and star of the upcoming film Son of God said he felt a special responsibility playing Jesus.
Morgado, who also starred as the Christian leader in the History miniseries The Bible, traveled to Jerusalem and the Wailing Wall as part of his research into the role.
"I saw this father and a young kid, they were praying," Morgado said. "And I stood for like two hours there. By the time I left, they were still praying."
"And I realized whatever I was about to do would be connecting more with that kid than his father," he continued. "We live in a visual world now. Kids can learn a lot by seeing things rather than reading it. So I really understood the responsibility."
"There's a lot of people out there. A lot of kids especially. They don't know who exactly Jesus was. So, this is actually a tool that can teach these kids about why Jesus was who he was and why the Bible was the most important book."
The actor said he pulled from his own childhood and faith in preparing to step into the shoes of someone who is so important in so many people's lives.
"I grew up as a Christian and I always think of Jesus as someone right next to us, you know, someone really close, and I never actually saw that onscreen in a way that could be identified," Morgado said. "So I actually tried to go that way and build this relationship of one-on-one with the viewer."
