Sal Inzerillo, actor, portrayed Simon the Zealot

CD: What expectations did you have going into the project, and how did that compare to your actual experience?

SI: I feel like, going in, I really had no idea that I was going to find out so much about Jesus and Judas and the actual history. This was unlike any other play I’d ever worked on, historically speaking, and something else I really loved about it was how quickly the conversations around the table became so ultra-personal, I guess because we’re dealing with religion. So it was much more vast and sprawling than anything I had ever possibly imagined going into it.

CD: What was that like for you?

SI: Well, as the actor, I felt challenged, specifically with the characters. Simon the Zealot was an actual historical figure — to represent him truthfully and honestly and to interpret him in the nature of the play, to be accurate was a challenge. Personally, I’d say that I was definitely threatened, because I felt that my own beliefs in terms of religion, which weren’t very examined at that point in my life, were up to be looked at for my work — in terms of my work, in terms of my interpretation of the play, even the parts that I wouldn’t be participating in personally — and at first that was threatening. But in the environment, with all these amazing artists and with Jim, it actually became more exciting than threatening, and I became far more open. And it was really, really inspiring to see how much faith my fellow peers — my friends and actors — had, and how strong they stood in their faith, even if it may have been contrary to what people in the room were saying or to public opinion. And that was really exciting and kind of freeing. So in that process I felt like I was broadened and definitely grew, and it definitely helped to develop my appetite for my spiritual life.

CD: What perceptions did you have about the characters in the play, and how did those perceptions change throughout the process?

SI: John Ortiz, who played Jesus, is one of my best friends, and I know him very well. To watch him bring the humanity to this infamous character, this person in history, was pretty mind-blowing for me, and deeply, deeply touching, because I felt like he really embodied Jesus in a way that took my understanding of who Jesus might be to another level — to really see my own humanity, and how I could relate my own humanity to Jesus through John’s interpretation. That was one of the primary things that I found. And then obviously, some of the characters that on the page seemed so, to me, in my upbringing, so vilified. They were portrayed in a manner that really made me see that there’s a whole other side. They really are a representation of a belief or a culture that had a need to exist at that time, like Pilate, as opposed to these one-sided, demonized figures, much like what happened, I think in the popular perception, at least when I was growing up, of Judas — that he’s really not this demon character, but a representation of this need at that time and that culture to act as he acted. In this play, there was something else going on a much deeper level. I guess, looking back through time, it’d be easier for someone like us to look at and see God’s hand in it.

CD: Have you had a chance to read Father Jim’s book?

SI: Pieces.

CD: What was your impression of seeing it through eyes, and of seeing yourself as a character in the book?

SI: It was really exciting, intriguing, and threatening. Because it’s like, “Is [this actor] really like that?” And, “Oh my God, I never really looked at it that way!” I have my own experience, and Jim seems much more objective than probably a lot of us in the play. Maybe that’s part of what makes him a writer, is that he can maintain that objectivity. So the few little parts I’ve read, I’ve been like, “Wow.”

CD: What was the greatest challenge you faced in the production?

SI: For me as an actor, the greatest challenge in this production in the beginning was to be onstage most of the time, when I played the bailiff. I was pretty much onstage when the audience was coming in, and I spent most of my time onstage while most of the other characters were interacting. I was part of the action, but I didn’t have any lines, and I didn’t really have any physical action, and that was really challenging. I’d never done that kind of work so much as an actor. And after the first week of performing, it was extremely freeing as an artist.