Kristen Bell Is Starring in a Fox News Podcast About Jesus
This may come as a surprise, but Kristen Bell is quickly becoming one of this nation’s foremost chroniclers of religion. Obviously, she stars in Nobody Wants This, which bravely asks the question “What if you dated a hot rabbi?” She’s following up that show’s success by starring as Mary Magdalene in the upcoming The Life of Jesus Podcast, presented by Fox News. Hold up, what?
On Wednesday, Variety reported that in an effort to expand its “Fox Faith” vertical, the network will launch the 52-episode podcast series later this month. According to a Fox News press release, the podcast will “bring stories from the New Testament to life through immersive storytelling.” Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt will introduce each episode, and Bell is not the only famous name involved: Brian Cox is the Voice of God, Malcolm McDowell is Caiaphas, and Sean Astin is Matthew. Desperate Housewives star Neal McDonough — a devout Catholic who recently said Hollywood had “turned” on him because he won’t kiss women who aren’t his wife — plays the title role.
Let’s do a rapid-fire Q&A. Is Bell religious? In the past, she has explicitly said she isn’t, despite having a “very religious” born-again Christian mother. So did she get paid a lot of money? I assume so. How could she do a Fox News podcast? Well, we may have to give her a bit of grace on that. According to its press release, Fox News actually licensed the show from a company called Gulfstream Studios. So it’s entirely possible that Bell did not know her faith-based podcast would wind up calling the conservative network home. Though it is a 52-episode podcast depicting Jesus’s life; it’s not hard to guess where that might end up.
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