Willem Dafoe starred in The Last Temptation of Christ, which sparked much controversy.
In an interview with The Louis Theroux Podcast, the Spider-Man star said the fallout of playing the lead actor in 1988 was so huge that he was uncast from a film.
“It’s just strange, in a world of slasher films and ****, that people got so upset about this, because it’s based on a novel and, broadly speaking, they’re changing the classic story a little bit to consider the character of Jesus in a different way, that’s all,” he said.
“It’s not this plot to overthrow or change religious thought. It’s a consideration, another way of looking at the human aspect of Jesus, as opposed to the divine part,” the 69-year-old added.
The Poor Things actor also recalled the film's impact on his career. “I mean, down the road there was one project in particular that I was cast in and the studio uncast me because they didn’t like that I was associated with Last Temptation. But I don’t want to do a big, crocodile tears about that because it could have been much worse."
"But I didn’t feel it so much. I think most of the responsibility fell on Martin Scorsese,” the Nosferatu star noted.
“It became a huge antisemitic thing too, because there was an association that this religious right talked about. ‘The evil people in Hollywood.’ So, in America anyway, that was the main fight,” Willemconcluded.