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Maia Morgenstern is a Actor Roumaine born on 1 may 1962 at Bucharest (Roumanie)

Maia Morgenstern

Maia Morgenstern
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Birth name Maia Morgenstern
Nationality Roumanie
Birth 1 may 1962 (62 years) at Bucharest (Roumanie)

Maia Emilia Ninel Morgenstern ([ˈmaja ˈmorɡənʃtern]; born 1 May 1962) is a Romanian film and stage actress, described by Florin Mitu of AMOS News as "a symbol of Romanian theater and film". In the English-speaking world, she is probably best known for the role of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. In Romania, she has been nationally known since her 1992 role as Nela in Balanţa, a film known in the United States as The Oak, set during the waning days of Communist Romania.

Biography

Born in Bucharest, in a Jewish family, she graduated from the Film and Theatre Academy of Bucharest in 1985. She then played at Teatrul Tineretului (Youth Theater) in Piatra Neamţ until 1988, and at the Teatrul Evreiesc de Stat (State Jewish Theatre) in Bucharest 1988-1990. From 1990–1998 she was a member of the company of the National Theatre in Bucharest, and since 1998 of Teatrul Bulandra, also in Bucharest; in addition, she continues to act at the Jewish State Theatre and other Bucharest theaters and elsewhere in Romania. Among her notable stage roles in recent years, in a Romanian-language production of The Blue Angel (Îngerul Albastru in Romanian) at Bucharest's Odeon Theater, in 2001-2 she played (to great critical acclaim) Lola Lola, the character made famous by Marlene Dietrich. At the same time, she was also playing the role of Kathleen Hogan in a Romanian-language production of Israel Horovitz's Park Your Car in Harvard Yard at the State Jewish Theater.

Morgenstern has appeared in numerous films, primarily in Romanian language roles. In The Passion of the Christ, she performs a role in Aramaic, but like the other actors in the cast of that film, she simply memorized her lines phonetically.

Her surname, Morgenstern, means "Morning Star" in German, a title of the Virgin Mary, the character she played in The Passion of the Christ. Mel Gibson, a devout Traditionalist Catholic, thought this of great significance when casting her. In interviews, she has defended The Passion against allegations of antisemitism, saying that the high priest Caiaphas is portrayed not as a representative of the Jewish people, but as a leader of the establishment, adding that "Authorities throughout history have persecuted individuals with revolutionary ideas."

She has been married twice, and has 3 children: Tudor Aaron, Eva Leea Cabiria and Ana Isadora.

She has won several major awards as an actress:


Best Actress for: Cei care platesc cu viaţa ("Those who pay with their lives", 1991), Romanian Filmmakers Union
UNITER (Romanian theater association) Lucia Sturdza Bulandra Prize (1990) for her stage role as Medea in Trilogia antică (Ancient Trilogy), directed by Andrei Şerban.
Best Actress for: Balanţa (1992), European Film Awards
Best Actress for: Balanţa (1992), Cinéma Tout Ecran (Geneva Film Festival)
Best Actress for: Balanţa (1992), Romanian Filmmakers Union
UNITER best actress award (1993), for her role in Ghetto at the Romanian National Theatre.
UNITER (1995) award for her performance in the stage production of Lola Blau.
Best Film Actress for: The Passion of the Christ (2004), Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards (EMMA Awards), UK

Best films

The Passion of the Christ (2004)
(Actress)

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Maia Morgenstern (17 films)

Display filmography as list

Actress

The Bra
The Bra (2019)
, 1h30
Directed by Veit Helmer
Origin German
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Actors Miki Manojlović, Denis Lavant, Tchoulpan Khamatova, Paz Vega, Maia Morgenstern, Frankie Wallach
Roles Fidan
Rating65% 3.2909353.2909353.2909353.2909353.290935
Le conducteur de train Nurlan se rend à Bakou pour la dernière fois avant sa retraite. En traversant les quartiers de la ville, son train arrache un soutien-gorge bleu à une corde à linge. Pour échapper à son existence solitaire, Nurlan se lance dans la plus grande aventure de sa vie : retrouver la propriétaire de ce sous-vêtement...
High Strung, 1h36
Directed by Michael Damian
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Musical, Romance
Themes Dance films, Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Jane Seymour, Sonoya Mizuno, Paul Freeman, Maia Morgenstern, Richard Southgate, Andrew Pleavin
Roles Markova
Rating63% 3.181123.181123.181123.181123.18112
Une jeune danseuse, Ruby, arrive à New York dans une école de danse. Un violoniste virtuose d'origine anglaise, Johnnie, vit sans papiers dans la même ville et joue dans le métro pour payer son loyer. Le film raconte leur rencontre et comment ils travailleront ensemble et avec l'aide d'une troupe de danseurs de rue, pour créer une performance chorégraphique et musicale, mêlant danse classique et hip-hop.
Miss Christina
Origin Roumanie
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror
Themes Ghost films
Actors Maia Morgenstern, Tudor Istodor
Roles Mrs. Moscu
Rating66% 3.3455253.3455253.3455253.3455253.345525
The End of Silence
Directed by Roland Edzard
Origin France
Genres Drama, Thriller
Actors Thierry Frémont, Maia Morgenstern, Carlo Brandt, Marianne Basler, Alexis Michalik, Anna Mihalcea
Roles Anne
Rating55% 2.7751752.7751752.7751752.7751752.775175
Une dispute éclate dans une maison isolée dans les Vosges. Jean, le fils cadet de la famille, est jeté dehors. Il rejoint des chasseurs pour une battue et apprend à tuer. La nuit suivante, la voiture de sa mère est incendiée. On l'accuse. Jean disparaît alors dans la forêt...
Eva
Eva (2010)
, 1h30
Origin Roumanie
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Political films
Actors Amy Beth Hayes, Patrick Bergin, Dustin Milligan, Maia Morgenstern, Claudiu Bleonț, Vlad Rădescu
Roles Maria
Rating50% 2.524772.524772.524772.524772.52477
As Europe reels amidst the Second World War, Eva faces immense tragedy as she struggles for love and her own survival.
The Passion of the Christ, 2h7
Directed by Mel Gibson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Historical
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about religion, Films about sexuality, Films based on the Bible, Films about Jews and Judaism, Portrayals of Jesus in film, Films about virginity
Actors Jim Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci, Hristo Chopov, Rosalinda Celentano, Mattia Sbragia
Roles Maria
Rating72% 3.6025953.6025953.6025953.6025953.602595
The film opens in Gethsemane as Jesus prays and is tempted by Satan, while his disciples Peter, James and John (James' brother) sleep. Satan appears in Jesus' form, and tempts him by saying, "It's not right for one man to die for their sins." After Jesus' sweat becomes like blood and drips to the ground, a snake comes out from Satan. Jesus hears his disciples calling him, then he steps on the snake's head, and the Devil disappears. After receiving thirty pieces of silver, Judas, another of Jesus' disciples, approaches with the temple guards and betrays Jesus with a kiss on the cheek. As the guards move in to arrest Jesus, Peter cuts off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest Caiaphas, but Jesus heals the ear. As the disciples flee, the temple guards arrest Jesus and beat him during the journey to the Sanhedrin. John tells Mary and Mary Magdalene of the arrest while Peter follows Jesus at a distance. Caiaphas holds trial over the objection of some of the other priests, who are expelled from the court. When questioned by Caiaphas whether he is the Son of God, Jesus replies "I am". Caiaphas is horrified and tears his robes, and Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy. Peter, who is secretly watching, is confronted three times and denies three times, but then runs away sobbing after remembering that Jesus had foretold that. Meanwhile, the remorseful Judas attempts to return the money to have Jesus freed, but is refused by the priests. Tormented by Demons, he flees the city and hangs himself upon a tree with a rope he finds on a dead donkey.
Rose's Songs, 1h38
Genres Drama
Themes Political films
Actors Franco Castellano, Maia Morgenstern, Ildikó Bánsági, Đoko Rosić, Zoltán Gera, Piroska Molnár
Roles Olga
Rating60% 3.002243.002243.002243.002243.00224
Autumn 1944. Yellow star, ghettos, Arrow Cross terror. The inhabitants of Hungary's capital, Budapest, await the tragic fulfilment of their fate with helpless resignation. However, above one of the city's villas, once a week in the evening the stars of hope sparkle, if only for a few minutes. This short time gives fresh heart to those hiding here and kindles hope in their tortured souls to live for another day. This mysterious power is none other than a beautiful song that can be heard at such times from the villa's tower room. Géza Halász, the villa's always jovial caretaker, believes no Jew has reason to fear while the owner of the voice, Imre Rose, the world-famous opera singer and a Jew himself, remains in Budapest and does not flee from the country in spite of his American, British, Swiss, Swedish and Vatican connections. Halász visits the singer every Friday to dine with him. After a while the marvellous, hope-inspiring concert starts, which is listened to by the hiding inhabitants of the house with enraptured faces through the villa's open dumb waiter. Already in the "palmy years of peacetime" Rose had competed with Csortos, the famous actor, for the title of "Budapest's Greatest Misanthrope". Thus it does not surprise anybody that the eccentric singer never, not even once, tries to make contact with his fellow Jews who took refuge in his house. And when Halász recounts that the singer swore within an hour of the Arrow Cross's seizing power that he would not utter a single word nor cross the threshold of his tower room until "Andrássy Avenue has been purged of this Arrow Cross scum", even the slightest suspicion about Rose's "invisibility" vanishes. Only a fourteen-year-old boy, Tommy, the caretaker's son, listens to the weekly song with curiosity combined with suspicion, and tries to find out about the secret of the tower room. As a result of the adolescent's persistent and undaunted inquiries, the opera singer's mystery is unveiled. Meanwhile, however, almost unnoticed, the events of the calamitous days, filled with excitement and cheerfulness, turn the boy into a truly adult man. The story of THE SONGS OF RÓZSA is based on true events.
Marie, Nonna, la vierge et moi
Directed by Francis Renaud
Actors Maia Morgenstern, Dominique Bettenfeld, Samuel Jouy, David Saracino, Gaëla Le Devehat, Julia Vaidis-Bogard
Roles Nonna
Rating61% 3.0790453.0790453.0790453.0790453.079045
Dans une vallée minière de l'Est de la France, trois jeunes gens cherchent à faire fortune pour changer leur vie. Ainsi, Tonio, Jeff et Chico voudraient organiser des rave-parties.
Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, 1h31
Directed by Joe Chappelle
Genres Biography, Horror
Themes Dracula films, Vampires in film
Actors Rudolf Martin, Jane March, Peter Weller, Michael Sutton, Roger Daltrey, Răzvan Vasilescu
Roles Woman at Fountain
Rating60% 3.0020453.0020453.0020453.0020453.002045
Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula tells the story of Vlad Dracula, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker's Dracula his name. Vlad is a dispossessed noble, and a patriot who fights the occupation forces of the Turks hoping to avenge the murder of his father by Romanian nobles and the capture of his brother by the Ottoman sultan. The King of Hungary (Roger Daltrey) becomes Vlad's ally and, with his support, Vlad and his men attack the occupying Turks and turncoat Romanian boyars, and seizes the throne of Wallachia.
The Witman Boys, 1h39
Directed by János Szász
Genres Drama
Actors Maia Morgenstern, Péter Andorai
Roles Mrs. Witman
Rating66% 3.334463.334463.334463.334463.33446
Ulysses' Gaze, 2h56
Directed by Theo Angelopoulos
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Historical
Themes Films based on mythology, Transport films, Films about automobiles, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology, Road movies, Films based on Greco-Roman mythology
Actors Harvey Keitel, Erland Josephson, Maia Morgenstern, Thanasis Veggos, Ljuba Tadić, Dragan Maksimović
Roles Ulysses' Wives
Rating75% 3.796893.796893.796893.796893.79689
A successful Greek filmmaker A (Harvey Keitel) is returning home and sets out on an epic journey across the battered Balkans in search of three lost reels of film by the Manaki brothers, the pioneering photographers who introduced movies into the Balkans at the beginning of the century.
Nostradamus, 1h59
Directed by Roger Christian
Origin France
Genres Drama, Biography, Historical
Themes Films about writers
Actors Tchéky Karyo, F. Murray Abraham, Rutger Hauer, Amanda Plummer, Julia Ormond, Assumpta Serna
Roles Helen
Rating57% 2.8999252.8999252.8999252.8999252.899925
Physicien et astrologue, Nostradamus a de nombreuses visions de l'avenir. Il doit faire face à l'Inquisition et va à l'encontre des théories scientifiques de son époque. Mais il parvient à enrayer une épidémie de peste et parvient à entrer à la cour du roi Charles IX.