Visitors to the Vatican Were Very Surprised to See John Malkovich Dressed As the Pope
John Malkovich caused a stir in Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Thursday when he walked around dressed as the pope while filming an upcoming TV show.
In “The New Pope,” (the follow-up to Paolo Sorrentino's “The Young Pope” that appeared on HBO) Malkovich is rumored to play Pope John Paul III.
He showed up to the Vatican’s famous square on Thursday in a black “Popemobile” and went so far as to hold children offered to him for “blessing,” according to AFP. He was in full costume in white papal robes, complete with a gold cross and zucchetto skullcap.
Visitors to the square on Thursday not only saw Malkovich in costume but the procession of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite as he made his way to a meeting with Pope Francis. The current pope was not present at the series filming.
This is Malkovich’s second time filming as a pope in the Vatican. In November, he filmed a scene wherein he gave a speech from the balcony at Saint Peter’s Basilica. Earlier this year, he was filming on a boat in Venice in his white vestments.
Jude Law, who starred in “The Young Pope” as Pope Pius XIII, will continue to star in the follow-up series. A release date has not yet been set.
“Just like ‘The Young Pope,’ Sorrentino is writing the script for the new show, but it will have a different twist than what would be expected,” the chief of content for the Sky TV network said at the time of the series announcement.
