Actress Maia Morgenstern, who earned worldwide fame for her interpretation of the Virgin Mary in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, declared on Saturday at the conference 'Follow your dreams, transform your life' organized under the banner of the SMArtFest multicultural festival in Borsec, that 20 years on since the movie's release, and despite all controversy, she cherishes the joy of having participated in a project of such scope and of having been chosen for the role.

"Exactly 20 years have passed, there are 20 years now, because I was carrying my youngest kid Isadora under my heart. I talk about 'The Passion of the Christ' with great emotion, with joy and with pride. The film was met with a real flurry of controversy, and I don't hide the fact that this caused a lot of suffering at the time, but things somehow settled down. What remains is the joy of having been part of a project of such scope, and the joy of being chosen," said Maia Morgenstern.

Of the movie director, Mel Gibson, the actress said that she was deeply impressed by the special respect with which he treated everyone involved, regardless of their role on the set.

Maia Morgenstern recalls that Mel Gibson decided to send her the script after seeing her in the movie Siódmy pokój/The Seventh Room, and asked her if she liked it.

"Well, if he had given me nothing more but the role of cat No. 3 and I would still have gone there to be part of the film. The fact that he approached me this way, that he was interested in my opinion, was a gesture of great respect, of great consideration. He treated every contributor to this project with the greatest respect, whether they were technicians, first-line or secondary actors, no matter what their task on the set was. I felt that I was committing myself with all my soul, mind and energy, with everything in my power," the actress said.

She also recalls that Mel Gibson helped the actors to completely transpose themselves into the characters.

"He explained to us and together we tried to understand, to acquire and convey the universal dimension, the universality, what a mother's love means, the love and suffering of a mother who sees her child sacrificed, and I think this is the standard anytime, anywhere on all continents, in all times and ages, in all hues, according to all norms and all precepts," Maia Morgenstern concluded. AGERPRES (RO - author: Dorina Matis, editor: Catalin Alexandru; EN - editor: Simona Klodnischi)