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Page 2 March 30 - April 5, 2015 NBC miniseries 'A.D.' delves farther into 'The Bible' By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it Easter Sunday is the most appropriate day pos- sible for the launch of a certain miniseries. Executive producers (and spouses) Mark Bur- nett and Roma Downey scored a ratings smash — and cemented their business in the area of faith-based projects — by providing cable's History channel with the 2013 miniseries "The Bible," which yielded the theatri - cal movie "Son of God." They continue their ef- forts, and that saga, as their NBC miniseries "A.D. The Bible Continues" de- buts April 5. The new 12-hour drama begins with the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, as Juan Pablo Di Pace (alias the scheming Nicolas Trevino on TNT's recent update of "Dallas") assum - ing the role of Jesus. His disciples, including Peter (Adam Levy, "Rome"), set out to recruit more follow - ers while being pursued by Governor Pontius Pi- late's (Vincent Regan) Ro- man troops and deputies of High Priest Caiaphas (Richard Coyle). Babou Alieu Ceesay and Chipo Chung ("Fortitiude") also are principal cast mem- bers as John and Mary Magdalene. Burnett reports that the new sequel to "The Bi- ble," which just completed filming in Morocco, "came out of sitting in the truck at 'The Voice' with (NBC Entertainment chairman) Bob Greenblatt and Bob saying, 'Look, can it con- tinue?' I said, 'Absolutely. We're working on this thing called "A.D." ' And Bob said, 'We'll make that.' And here we are, 18 months later. "We didn't make it thinking we'd get an Eas- ter Sunday premiere," adds Burnett. "We had no idea when it would be on, but ... well, how fortunate." Taking over the por- trayal of Christ from "The Bible's" Diogo Morgado is, Di Pace acknowledges, "a huge responsibility. It's a daunting thing to do. Very few people have had the chance, and it's certainly hard to do. I come from a Christian background; my mother is a religious paint- er. She has a painting in the Vatican, so I grew up When last we saw World War II-era combat nurse- turned-18th century Scotswoman Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), she was rushing toward the Standing Stones to reunite with hubby Frank (Tobias Menzies in a dual role), who was shouting to her from the 1940s. This was before she was abducted and nearly raped by Black Jack Randall (Menzies also) and subsequently rescued by her 18th century lover – and true love – Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). So as the second half of the first season of "Outlander" opens Saturday, April 4, on Starz, the question remains: With whom – and where and when – does Claire want to be? "Well, I think it was such an impulsive decision for her run and to flee," Balfe says. "I think everyone was (saying), 'How could you leave Jamie? What were you thinking?' But I think the pull and the ties to her own time and to everything that she knew is just sort of an instinctual pull. You know, she just saw her moment and I don't think she thought about it so much, she just went because that was her sole concern for so long. "And then once we pick up again in the second half of the season, so much has changed," she continues. "Number one, I think her interaction with Black Jack and how dark that gets, I think it really unnerves her quite deeply. And then she realizes the impact that she would have had on Jamie's life had she left, and I think that she really has to come to a decision within herself: Is she going to continue to try and keep running or is she going to make her peace with this situation and build a life for herself in this new time? "So I think you're going to see," Balfe says with a chuckle, "this decision come to fruition and that struggle for her." But whatever decision Claire makes, Balfe is confident she is battle tested and strong enough to face it. "If you had gone through some of those experiences," she says, "you're prepared to handle anything. And that was the great thing about Claire. There's not an ounce of self-pity, really, anywhere. You know, there are times, of course, when she feels despondent and it all gets a little too much. But she just has such reserves of strength and I feel that really comes from what she experienced and what she witnessed during the war." BY GEORGE DICKIE Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan Torn between two lovers – and centuries Juan Pablo Di Pace (left) and Adam Levy star in the NBC miniseries "A.D. The Bible Continues," starting Sunday. with all of that. My name, actually — Juan Pablo — comes from John Paul II. So, you know, it was going to happen at some point." Former "Touched by an Angel" star Downey also acted in "The Bible" as Mother Mary, but she doesn't reprise the part in "A.D.," largely because she was so occupied on it — and also on last week's CBS miniseries "The Dovekeepers" — behind the scenes. Both dramas come from LightWorkers Media, a Downey-supervised divi- sion of the United Artists studio, which she and Burnett now run. "I felt this time that there was so much work to be done as producer that I did not enter into it," Downey explains of not being an "A.D." performer, "but we have Greta Scacchi, who plays Mother Mary beautifully, and we have gathered this great, great cast. We've just been extraordinarily blessed to see our company grow, and we're doing a num- ber of projects. We're also producing (a movie remake of) 'Ben-Hur.' We love this first-century drama."

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