TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
'Pope' John Malkovich delights pilgrims on Saint Peter's Square
Dressed in white robes and other papal insignia, actor John Malkovich delighted throngs on Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican City on Thursday as he filmed a scene for Paulo Sorrentino's "The New Pope" series.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
US actor John Malkovich (C), dressed as pope, waits during the filming of 'The new Pope', the sequel of Paolo Sorrentino's movie 'The young Pope', in Rome's via della Conciliazione on March 28, 2019. (AFP/Vincenzo Pinto)
D
ressed in white robes and other papal insignia, actor John Malkovich delighted throngs on Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican City on Thursday as he filmed a scene for Paulo Sorrentino's The New Pope series.
Pilgrims did a double take as the bearded "pontiff" strode around, the 65-year-old going as far as to greet babies proffered for his "blessing".
After the major success of Sorrentino's The Young Pope series, starring Jude Law, the Italian director has returned with a follow-up drama with American Malkovich as Pope John Paul III on board a black popemobile rather than the usual white variant.
Bodyguards were on hand just in case the enthusiasm of yellow rose-waving bystanders ever got out of hand as he left the vehicle to acknowledge them.
Read also: ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’, a tragically ludicrous satire of the art world
As well as espying Malkovich, onlookers also got to see the escort of visiting Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite along the famed "via della Conciliazione" avenue en route to a reception with Pope Francis.
But it appeared it was the actor who got top billing as he was put through his paces for the eight-part series -- a collaboration between Sky, HBO and Canal+.
Law played an ultra-conservative and machiavellian Pope Pius XIII in The Young Pope, a well-received ten-part series.
