How many Labyrinth and Willow actors have also been in Bible movies?
We've done Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Now let's take a look at the actors from George Lucas's other 1980s fantasy films.
I did Star Wars, and I did Indiana Jones. So I figured I might as well take a look at the other fantasy films that George Lucas produced in the 1980s, and see how many of their actors have also been in Bible movies and TV shows.
It wasn’t hard to think of a few names, even before I looked anything up:
The two biggest stars in Labyrinth are Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie, who appeared in Noah and The Last Temptation of Christ, respectively.
And Willow was the film that introduced Val Kilmer, who played Moses in two different productions, to his future (now ex-) wife Joanne Whalley, who appeared in three Bible movies in the space of three years less than a decade ago.
But were there any other Bible-movie actors in those films, or in any of the other fantasy films that Lucas produced in the 1980s (such as the animated Twice upon a Time, the Disney theme-park attraction Captain EO, or the first-ever Marvel Comics movie Howard the Duck)? Once the question came to mind, I couldn’t let it go.
And so I did a little digging, and this gallery is what I found.
A few quick points:
As before, I limited my search to all the credited actors, and I did not investigate any of the actors who were listed at the IMDb as “uncredited”.
Many of the actors in Labyrinth and Willow contributed only their voices, or they are listed in the credits as part of large groups like “Goblin Corps” and “Ballroom Dancers”. In cases like those, I did look at the actors’ filmographies, but I didn’t look for any images. Instead, I’ve listed them under ‘actors I could not identify’.
In addition to the films, I am including the Willow series that was produced in 2022, because it is an extension of the film that came out in 1988.
A few interesting patterns and coincidences:
The movie and series versions of Willow both feature actors who have provided the voice of Moses in animated films: Val Kilmer in The Prince of Egypt, and Christian Slater in the 2007 version of The Ten Commandments.
The two biggest films on this list both feature actresses who went on to play Noah’s wife: Jennifer Connelly in Noah, and Joanne Whalley in The Ark.
There are six Noah movies here in total, and three movies about Joseph (four, if you count The Story of Jacob and Joseph, though the actor from that film who is highlighted here appears only in the Jacob half of that movie).
The Labyrinth or Willow actor with the most Bible-movie experience is easily the aforementioned Joanne Whalley, who has been in three such films.
Richard Kiley, who lends his voice to Howard the Duck, has four Bible movies on his list, but in two of them he is merely an unseen narrator.
The Bible movies with the most Labyrinth or Willow actors are Paul of Tarsus, Salome’s Last Dance, and The Bible Collection: Joseph, which have two such actors each—almost all of whom did only voice work on the Lucas films.
And now, to the gallery!
The movies and TV shows
Twice Upon a Time (1983)
Paul Frees (who voiced the Judges, Bailiff, and others) voiced Noah and God in Noah’s Ark (1959) and Aaron’s Father and the Magi in The Little Drummer Boy (1968).
Labyrinth (1986)
Jennifer Connelly (Sarah) played Naameh in Noah (2014).
David Bowie (Jareth) played Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).
Christopher Malcolm (Father) played Doeg in King David (1985).
Robert Beatty (Left Door Knocker) played Proculus in Jesus of Nazareth (1977).
Percy Edwards (Ambrosius) voiced some Animal Sounds in The Ark Stories (1981), which I have not seen.
Michael Hordern (The Wiseman) played Noah in Noah (1946), which I have not seen.
Timothy Bateson (The Worm; he also voiced one of the Four Guards and provided one of the Goblin voices) played a Priest in The Bible Collection: Joseph (1995; he’s the shorter man with the staff in the photo below).
Antony Jackson (one of The Four Guards; he also provided one of the Goblin voices) voiced the Trader and the Jailer in Testament: The Bible in Animation (1996).
Douglas Blackwell (one of The Four Guards, and also one of the Goblin voices) played Demetrius in Paul of Tarsus (1960), which I have not seen.
Howard the Duck (1986)
Richard Kiley (voice of The Cosmos) played Claudius in A.D. Anno Domini (1985) and Old Matthew in The Visual Bible: Matthew (1993); he also narrated The New Media Bible: The Gospel According to St. Luke (1979) and Mysteries of the Bible (1994-1998).
Richard McGonagle (First Cop) voiced the Pharaoh in Joseph, King of Dreams (2000).
Captain EO (1986)
This film did not, apparently, star any actors with Bible-movie credits.
Willow (1988)
Val Kilmer (Madmartigan) voiced Moses in The Prince of Egypt (1998) and played him again in The Ten Commandments: The Musical (2006).
Joanne Whalley (Sorsha) played Emmie in The Ark (2015), Claudia in A.D. The Bible Continues (2015), and Priscilla in Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018).
Rick Overton (Franjean, on the left) played Sodom Officer Rick in Year One (2009), and I think I’ve identified him correctly, though I’m not entirely sure about that.
Willow (2022)
Christian Slater (Allagash) voiced Moses in The Ten Commandments (2007).
Alexis Rodney (Lachlan) played Simon Peter in Killing Jesus (2015).
Julian Glover (Zeb) played Esau in The Story of Jacob and Joseph (1974).
Kenny Knight (Keene, on the right) played a Purification Master in Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), though I could not identify his character in the latter film.
The more-research-needed pile
Lucas film actors I could not identify
Several actors who worked on Labyrinth as unspecified Goblins and Dancers, etc., also worked on biblical or Bible-adjacent films.
The Goblin voice actors included:
Michael Attwell, who played Judah in The Bible Collection: Joseph (1995).
Sean Barrett, who played Timothy in Paul of Tarsus (1960).
John Bluthal, who played Prof. Marcuse in Hail, Caesar! (2016), a movie that is partly about the making of a Bible movie in the 1950s.
Peter Marinker, who voiced Caspar and Big Woodcutter in Holy Night! (2011), an animated film about Christmas toys and decorations that come to life, including figurines based on Mary, Joseph, and other characters.
Kerry Shale, who voiced the Grizzly Bear in Stowaways on the Ark (1988) and Melchior, a Fisherman, a Dwarf, and a Chicken in Holy Night! (2011).
The Goblin Corps included:
Anthony Georghiou, who played 3rd Jew in Salome’s Last Dance (1988), a movie about a brothel that puts on a performance of Oscar Wilde’s play Salome.
The Ballroom Dancers included:
Dougie Howes, who played Phoney Salome in Salome’s Last Dance (1988).
Lucas film actors I am not yet sure about
Due to incomplete data on the IMDb etc., there are some films I don’t know enough about to know whether they or their actors belong on this list. E.g.:
Mario Revolori (Dermot in the Willow series) plays someone named Jesus in Jesus, an unreleased pilot for a series about “a Mexican construction worker” who is “the last living descendant of Jesus Christ”. It is not clear to me if Revolori is playing Christ or the Mexican construction worker. Either way, this sounds like the sort of thing that would normally get filed under ‘Honourable Mentions’.
Honourable mentions
Lucas film actors who have played actors playing Bible characters
See Anthony Georghiou and Dougie Howes above.
Lucas film actors who have appeared in Bible-adjacent films
This isn’t really a Bible film, but I couldn’t let it pass without comment:
Lea Thompson (Beverly Switzler in Howard the Duck) played Irene Steele in the end-times movie Left Behind (2014).
And, I think that about covers it. Did I miss any actors? If so, please let me know!
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Past Bible-movie/franchise overlap galleries:
Star Wars | Harry Potter | Downton Abbey | Indiana Jones | The Exorcist