Playing the role of Jesus’ mother in the Netflix film “Mary”, filmed in Morocco, Israeli actress Noa Cohen revealed that she received death threats during filming in the country. On Keshet 12, she confided having received messages via social networks from Internet users who claimed to know the address of her accommodation.
“I felt unsafe, being in a Muslim country like Morocco, and I had to be surrounded by heightened security all the time,” Noa Cohen said. “It was scary, especially when people started knowing where I was and I started getting messages on Instagram,” she added.
Despite the threats, filming of the $70 million film continued without interruption. Released on December 6, “Mary” quickly rose to the top of Netflix’s global charts, retaining its position for almost a month.
Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins in the cast, the film tells the story of Mary, mother of Jesus. Morocco was chosen as the filming location to replicate the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The director, DJ Caruso, explained this choice by the diversity of landscapes in the kingdom, in particular vestiges “more than 700 years old”.
One of the major film reconstructions in Morocco is the Second Temple of King Herod. For the scenes set in Jerusalem, producers used a set originally created by director Ridley Scott for his film “Kingdom of Heaven,” set in Ouarzazate.
The town of Chefchaouen, famous for its blue buildings and mountainous landscapes, was used as the setting for Bethlehem. Filming concluded in Morocco in April 2024.
Morocco
