'Beyond the Sun' Casts Pope Francis, Sovereign of the Vatican City Holiness' Acting Debut

Pope Francis never fails to hit the trending list by continuing his different ways as the head of the Catholic Church. The Pope does have the tendency of being unpredictable compared to his predecessors. We have witnessed him take the bus or drive in a Fiat rather than take the normal high profile motorcade. Now, Pope Francis will really do something no Pope has ever tried before. He is going to star in a film and make his acting debut.

Of course, there have been lots of movies that many actors played as the Pope but no real Pope has ever been in an existing movie. That will surely be changed as Pope Francis will play himself in an upcoming feature Beyond the Sun. The film is a "family adventure on the gospels" as described by Variety. The movie is produced by Ambi Pictures and the primary photography is set to start early this year.

Exact reason from the Pope as to why he decided to partake in the making of this film is vague. Some say that his Holiness agreed to do it because it is for a good cause. The film's profits will be given to two Argentinian foundations, El Alemendro and Los Hogares de Cristo, that help at-risk children and young adults. Just by being part of the movie's cast, Pope Francis will surely draw many people to watch the movie and would greatly help in achieving the movie's cause.

As for the other cast members, there is no word yet on who will film alongside his Holiness.Though Ambi Pictures has already worked with some Hollywood actors before, including Salma Hayek, James Franco, Bryan Cranston and Adrien Brody. Since the Pope is a likeable figure, even for non-Catholics, there could be a chance that this film could become a star-studded one.

This is even the first time words such as 'Pope Francis' and 'acting' appear in the same sentence but who knows, his Holiness might have some acting skills up at his sleeves. It is not clear if the Pope will assume a major character or a cameo but even so, this character will surely be an important and notable one. However according to Time, Vatican spokesman noted: "the Pope is not an actor."