Holy performances: 10 actors who've played the Pope with flair

Tatler Asia

14-05-2025

2. Jonathan Pryce – 'The Two Popes' (2019)
Above 'The Two Popes' (Photo: IMDB)
Role: Pope Francis (Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio)
Mood: Humble tango uncle turned spiritual powerhouse
Before he became the Pope Francis, Bergoglio was a Jesuit who challenged the system from within. Jonathan Pryce portrays him with warmth, humour and moral gravity. Imagine your most thoughtful philosophy professor suddenly getting the keys to the Vatican. Whether discussing football or forgiveness, Pryce's Francis radiates humility without losing steel, showing how reform can wear a smile but still carry a spine. 3. Jude Law – 'The Young Pope' (2016) and 'The New Pope' (2020)
Above 'The Young Pope' (Photo: IMDB)
Role: Pope Pius XIII (Lenny Belardo)
Mood: Calvin Klein model with a divine complex
Forget meek papal predecessors. Jude Law's Pope Pius XIII is a chain-smoking, cherry Coke-loving enigma who treats sainthood like a high-fashion campaign. Lenny Belardo isn't just the youngest pope ever; he's also the most mysterious, operating somewhere between messiah and pop star. Law's performance is unapologetically stylised, with just enough spiritual anguish to make the arrogance poetic. And yes, the slow-motion walk in full papal regalia set to LMFAO is a cultural reset.
Also read: 6 definitive Sherlock Holmes performances on screen 4. John Malkovich – 'The New Pope' (2020)
Above 'The New Pope' (Photo: IMDB)
Role: Pope John Paul III (Sir John Brannox)
Mood: Velvet-draped trauma in human form
Where Jude Law was fire, John Malkovich is smoked glass and lingering incense. His turn as the deeply wounded, oddly droll Pope John Paul III is like watching a man quietly burn in couture. Brannox is a reluctant pope, more interested in tailoring than theology at times, and Malkovich lends him an air of aristocratic disillusionment. This is papal ennui wrapped in ecclesiastical embroidery—and it's weirdly magnificent. 5. Michel Piccoli – 'Habemus Papam' (2011)
Above 'Habemus Papam' (Photo: IMDB)
Role: Cardinal Melville
Mood: Existential crisis in a biretta
In Nanni Moretti's offbeat and unexpectedly tender Italian film, Michel Piccoli plays a cardinal who is elected pope and immediately panics. What follows is not a tale of power, but of paralysis. Melville wanders Rome incognito, dodging duty like it's a papal plague, and Piccoli brings heartbreaking nuance to a man who's supposed to be infallible but feels deeply, achingly human. It's a quiet masterpiece about the cost of calling. 6. Finlay Currie – 'Quo Vadis' (1951)
Above 'Quo Vadis' (Photo: IMDB)
Role: Saint Peter (the first Pope, technically)
Mood: Original martyr with a fisherman's heart and a prophet's gravitas
Finlay Currie plays Peter, the original keeper of the keys, in this Technicolor Roman epic. As lions roar and Nero fiddles, Currie's Peter offers moral clarity with solemn intensity. He may not have the modern Pope's Swiss Guard, but he's got sandals, scripture and a deep sense of duty that would make any Vatican Instagram post look shallow. 7. Robbie Coltrane – 'The Pope Must Die' (1991)
Above 'The Pope Must Die' (Photo: IMDB)
Role: Pope Dave
Mood: Accidental pope with divine comedy timing
This irreverent British satire sees Robbie Coltrane as a bumbling priest who accidentally becomes Pope. While Coltrane plays the lead, Tom Conti appears as the actual pontiff—before chaos ensues. It's Monty Python meets Vatican politics, and while purists might wince, it's a reminder that sometimes the collar's too big for comedy to ignore. 8. Jon Voight – 'Pope John Paul II' (2005)
Above 'Pope John Paul II' (Photo: IMDB)
Role: Pope John Paul II
Mood: Academy Award gravitas meets Vatican gravitas
Jon Voight took on the role of Karol Wojtyła in the latter half of this well-received CBS miniseries, tracing the pope's journey from World War II-era Poland to the Holy See. While Cary Elwes handled the younger years, it's Voight's performance—measured, deeply human and spiritually weighty—that anchors the series. He didn't just impersonate the pontiff; he embodied the man's moral resolve and inner warmth. So convincing was his portrayal that Pope Benedict XVI reportedly invited him to a special Vatican screening. A rare case of method acting meeting actual blessing. 9. Albert Finney – 'Pope John Paul II' (1984)
Above 'Pope John Paul II' (Photo: IMDB)
Role: Pope John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła)
Mood: Gravitas in a cassock, with BBC-level seriousness
Albert Finney tackled the life of Pope John Paul II with a quiet intensity in this 1984 television biopic. From his youth in Nazi-occupied Poland to his election as one of the most beloved modern popes, Finney plays the pontiff with spiritual depth and political clarity. The film, produced with Vatican cooperation, is earnest and reverent: less holy spectacle, more historical prestige drama. Finney's performance shines particularly in moments of moral resolve, capturing the strength and compassion that defined John Paul II's papacy. 10. Franco Nero – 'The Pope's Exorcist' (2023)
Above 'The Pope's Exorcist' (Photo: IMDB)
Role: The Pope (inspired by John Paul II)
Mood: Vatican meets horror thriller, with a side of incense and Latin chants
In a very different tonal universe, Franco Nero plays an unnamed Pope in The Pope's Exorcist , opposite Russell Crowe's demon-battling Father Gabriele Amorth. Though not explicitly called John Paul II, the character is clearly modelled after the real-life pontiff under whom Amorth served. Nero's papal portrayal adds a grounding calm to a film filled with blood, banshees and baroque exorcisms. He spends much of the movie consulting dossiers and praying gravely from his richly appointed study—a papal figure of faith and restraint, acting as the Vatican's spiritual compass while hell breaks loose.