Christian Entertainment Review - May 2008 - (Page 10)

+talent profile ELLIOTT GOULD PLAYS GOD By CRAIG MODDERNO ince his breakout role in the 1970 film MASH, veteran actor Elliott Gould seems never to have stopped working. He currently voices God in the recent animated version of The Ten Commandments, on DVD from Genius Products. CER: Did you enjoy playing God in the new film? Gould (laughing): Who wouldn’t? I enjoyed the fact that I was making a movie my grandchildren could see and parents everywhere could watch with their children. You rarely get a chance nowadays to be in a picture families can watch together and then discuss amongst themselves. Besides this is the rare kind of film that educates audiences while it entertains them. CER: Would you ever make another religious-themed film? Gould: I’m doing one now. I’m voicing God again in Noah’s Ark: The New Beginning. I think I’m now tied with George Burns for playing God the most times on screen — though I can tell you several S producers and directors who I’ve witnessed playing God on sets but not in a positive way. CER: Why doesn’t Hollywood make more family pictures? Gould: They actually do quite a lot, especially if you count direct-to-DVD films. Studios will make any kind of film that makes them money. Despite his movie star credentials, Mel Gibson couldn’t get any major studios to distribute The Passion of the Christ because of its content, even though the people in charge hadn’t actually seen the film before they made the decision. When the movie was a huge international hit, you couldn’t find an executive who’d admit to passing on the picture. CER: Do you think that’s because they don’t know how big the family or Christian audience can be? Gould: I’m sure that has something to do with it. But they also don’t know how big an audience there is for a Western or a pure romantic film. They only learn when they read the weekend box office results each Monday. 8 CHRISTIAN ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW / MAY 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Christian Entertainment Review - May 2008

Contents Product Profile Talent Profile Retail Profile Reviews New Releases

Christian Entertainment Review - May 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.