Roma Downey On Why Television Should Focus On Strong Women


Roma Downey opened up recently about one of her latest projects, a four-part miniseries called The Dovekeepers, and said that what attracted her was the fact that the story is told largely by strong, courageous women.

The miniseries — which also stars Sam Neill and Cote de Pablo — focuses on the story of a group of women in Masada during a particularly difficult time for people of the Jewish faith. Downey says that for a series to pay such attention to a cast of females is rare, and necessary.

“We don’t often get to see the historic stories told through the eyes of women, and that really appealed to me. They’re strong women. They’re in relationships with one another; there are mothers and daughters, and their friendships show how supportive they are of each other,” Downey told The Hollywood Reporter.

The series aired this past week, just ahead of Downey’s other project, A.D. The Bible. The series — a sequel to The Bible, which picks up immediately following the resurrection of Christ — was filmed in Morocco and will air on Easter Sunday. Roma and her husband, Mark Burnett, teamed up for the project and recently shared a photo of a cloud that formed a cross-shape in the sky right above their heads during filming.

“There they could see clouds had formed in a completely blue sky in the perfect shape of a cross. Everyone was stunned and filming stopped, as iPhones came out and everyone was snapping pictures. It certainly energized a tired, hardworking crew for the rest of the day and reminded everyone that we were being watched over as we are working hard to bring the Book of Acts to the screen,” Downey said.

Although Downey’s fans were eagerly awaiting The Dovekeepers, she told Entertainment Tonight that A.D. The Bible has been the most anxiously awaited project she and her husband have done together, in part because of the beauty of the shots involving Christ.

“I would say that out of all the work we’ve done — and we’ve done a lot of work — that A.D. is the most anticipated series that we’ve ever been involved with…You’ll see the light coming out through the crack of the tomb. Then the angel arrives. He’s big and he’s beautiful and you’re so glad he’s on your team when he shows up with his wings and his sword, and then he comes down and he pushes the stone away,” Downey said.

[Photo courtesy Entertainment Tonight/YouTube]

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