MARCHIANO REIGNS IN RESURRECTED 'THE ENCOUNTER'
Pure Flix' "The Encounter" official series graphic. Insets left to right: Bruce Marchiano as Jesus in the 1993 film "The Gospel According to Matthew," in South Africa with young friend Matapela, a profile from the first season of "The Encounter" and at the Christian Worldview Film Festival in March 2018.
▶ BY KEVIN SCOTT COLLIER
Playing the role of Jesus is nothing new for actor/speaker Bruce Marchiano. He’s been doing it in television and motion picture productions for over 25 years. But when Pure Flix decided to resurrect the faith-based TV series The Encounter this year, after a three year hiatus, it was a bit of a second coming for Marchiano.
It presented the opportunity for the actor to reprise his role as “The Man” (Christ). The Encounter, produced by Pure Flix, follows the influential pathway of an “authoritative, mysterious figure” known only as “The Man.” Actually, the deliverer who shows up in each storyline crisis to assist and bring people together is the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.
Marchiano enjoyed playing the only recurring character in the series, our Savior, during the initial eight episode series run, from October 21 to December 9, 2016. Marchiano depicted Christ through a variety of faith-challenging scripts written by Keith Ray Putman and Timothy Ratajczak. Topics included divorce, hold-up bandits, and a judge who was being judged.
The return of The Encounter series presents eight all-new episodes, which begin appearing, via Pure Flix, on October 11. Putman and Ratajczak are back as principal screenwriters.
Being a follower of Jesus, not the actual Christ, Marchiano knows not the time nor date of our Lord’s return. But he, likewise, is uncertain how the second coming of The Encounter played out, either.
“Why the delay, I honestly don’t know, as I’m not part of the planning process,” Marchiano told CM. “I’m just glad Pure Flix did the second season, because the series touches so many lives. Again, for me that’s what it’s all about. So, hopefully Pure Flix is planning a Season Three, also!”
Bruce Marchiano is the founder of Marchiano Ministries, a non-profit outreach, principally serving rural villages and impoverished children in South Africa. He has circumvented the globe, delivering the loving message of Jesus and been witness to hundreds of thousands of people embracing Christ and salvation.
Marchiano started his acting career in 1984, with a two-line role on the classic TV show Murder, She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury.
“It was the realization of a dream I’d had since I was 13 years old,” Marchiano said. “But acting jobs were hard to come by and I spent most of those early years the proverbial starving actor.”
Marchiano explained that it was due to a “constant struggle and rejection” that directed him to Jesus. He said, “I praise God for those years! He surely had a plan!”
The budding actor’s mainstream TV involvement included placement in such series as The New Mike Hammer, Hardball, L.A. Law, Generations and Columbo, starring Peter Falk. Soap Opera were not out of consideration, as Marchiano appeared Days of Our Lives and General Hospital. He even shared the same space as Freddy Krueger in the series depiction of Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy’s Nightmares.
Then, Marchiano stepped into his first faith-based venture, The Gospel According to Matthew, a 1993 motion picture release directed by South African filmmaker, Regardt van den Bergh, and distributed by Visual Bible International. It was also the first time he would assume the role of Jesus Christ on film.
“More than 20 years later, it stands as the most the most fruitful, and milestone, Christian film I’ve ever been involved in,” Marchiano said. “Literally millions of lives have come to Jesus through it. I can’t tell you how it drives me to my knees, blown away by the Lord. Glory to Jesus!”
It was due to the response from this film that laid the foundation for Marchiano Ministires.
“When Matthew was released, I began receiving ministry/speaking invitations from all over the globe,” he said. “The Lord was touching lives, so ‘I went with it,’ and the ministry was born.”
Since then, Marchiano explained that the ministry has presented dozens of stadium “crusades,” and built churches in Africa. There, the organization cares for HIV-affected kids, and Marchiano Ministries has also partnered with an orphanage in India.
In recent years Marchiano, introduced a ministry film division, MarchMin Films, resulting in the release of his first film as writer/director, Alison’s Choice, in 2015.
“We are now raising funds for a film adaptation of the Gospel of John,” he said. “The only thing I enjoy more than making movies is ministry!”
This year, the actor graced silver screens around the world, appearing in the Kendrick Brothers’ highly successful motion picture Overcomer, cast in the role of Pastor Mark.
Embarking on a faith-based acting career has had its challenges. Marchiano laughed, commenting he “could write a book” about his experiences concerning mainstream push-back, and the suppression over being a “Christian actor” that still endures today.
“But once a guy experiences making films that the Lord uses to touch lives,” he shared, “at least for me, nothing else can begin to compare!”
Marchiano’s access into The Encounter TV series originated from the original 2011 full-length motion picture, The Encounter, and the sequel, The Encounter: Paradise Lost, released the following year. He played Christ in both projects and the movies influenced the Pure Flix series.
“The series was created when Pure Flix launched their streaming platform,” Marchiano explained. “They’d always had a very strong response to the films, so it was a natural step for them to take.”
While is was easy for Jesus to walk on water, being a part of The Encounter series team isn’t a cakewalk.
“We work hard--very hard--and the conditions are not always comfortable,” he said. “We shot the first season during the summer in Phoenix--there were days when the temp hit 115. But everyone knows we’re creating a show that’s meaningful and impacting. So, in spite of conditions, there’s a lot of excitement.”
Marchiano looks back fondly on the set of Season One, but points to the second coming of The Encounter, the new season, presenting a “wonderful bunch of guys and gals” comprising the crew.
“They all worked with a smile, no matter the pressure--which is hard to come by,” Marchiano shared. “The cast members were each a blessing in their own way, each unique in the creativity they brought to their characters, and every one of them giving their all.”
The actor revealed his favorite performer/character portrayal in the entire The Encounter legacy.
“It’s character actor Kass Connors, who plays the devil in all The Encounters [motion pictures],” Marchiano said. “Kass is a tremendous guy who really loves the Lord (in real life, haha!)”
Connors also appears in season one of the TV series, and is cast in the role of Reverend Cadwallader in an episode in season two.
While Bruce Marchiano hopes Pure Flix engages a third season The Encounter, but he also sees a return to the big screen, too, with the present incarnation.
“I think a big screen film [of The Encounter] would be very impacting,” Marchiano said. “I receive testimonies every day from all walks of life, both believers and non-believers, saying how The Encounter changed their life. I’ve received testimonies from Satanists, atheists...you name it, saying how they now found Jesus.”
Only God knows the plan, and Marchiano keeps the industry numbers game in a spiritual context.
“For me, those testimonies trump box-office numbers and awards all day long,” he shared. “So again, hopefully there are more ‘encounters’ to come! Glory to the name of Jesus!”
Playing the role of Jesus is nothing new for actor/speaker Bruce Marchiano. He’s been doing it in television and motion picture productions for over 25 years. But when Pure Flix decided to resurrect the faith-based TV series The Encounter this year, after a three year hiatus, it was a bit of a second coming for Marchiano.
It presented the opportunity for the actor to reprise his role as “The Man” (Christ). The Encounter, produced by Pure Flix, follows the influential pathway of an “authoritative, mysterious figure” known only as “The Man.” Actually, the deliverer who shows up in each storyline crisis to assist and bring people together is the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.
Marchiano enjoyed playing the only recurring character in the series, our Savior, during the initial eight episode series run, from October 21 to December 9, 2016. Marchiano depicted Christ through a variety of faith-challenging scripts written by Keith Ray Putman and Timothy Ratajczak. Topics included divorce, hold-up bandits, and a judge who was being judged.
The return of The Encounter series presents eight all-new episodes, which begin appearing, via Pure Flix, on October 11. Putman and Ratajczak are back as principal screenwriters.
Being a follower of Jesus, not the actual Christ, Marchiano knows not the time nor date of our Lord’s return. But he, likewise, is uncertain how the second coming of The Encounter played out, either.
“Why the delay, I honestly don’t know, as I’m not part of the planning process,” Marchiano told CM. “I’m just glad Pure Flix did the second season, because the series touches so many lives. Again, for me that’s what it’s all about. So, hopefully Pure Flix is planning a Season Three, also!”
Bruce Marchiano is the founder of Marchiano Ministries, a non-profit outreach, principally serving rural villages and impoverished children in South Africa. He has circumvented the globe, delivering the loving message of Jesus and been witness to hundreds of thousands of people embracing Christ and salvation.
Marchiano started his acting career in 1984, with a two-line role on the classic TV show Murder, She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury.
“It was the realization of a dream I’d had since I was 13 years old,” Marchiano said. “But acting jobs were hard to come by and I spent most of those early years the proverbial starving actor.”
Marchiano explained that it was due to a “constant struggle and rejection” that directed him to Jesus. He said, “I praise God for those years! He surely had a plan!”
The budding actor’s mainstream TV involvement included placement in such series as The New Mike Hammer, Hardball, L.A. Law, Generations and Columbo, starring Peter Falk. Soap Opera were not out of consideration, as Marchiano appeared Days of Our Lives and General Hospital. He even shared the same space as Freddy Krueger in the series depiction of Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy’s Nightmares.
Then, Marchiano stepped into his first faith-based venture, The Gospel According to Matthew, a 1993 motion picture release directed by South African filmmaker, Regardt van den Bergh, and distributed by Visual Bible International. It was also the first time he would assume the role of Jesus Christ on film.
“More than 20 years later, it stands as the most the most fruitful, and milestone, Christian film I’ve ever been involved in,” Marchiano said. “Literally millions of lives have come to Jesus through it. I can’t tell you how it drives me to my knees, blown away by the Lord. Glory to Jesus!”
It was due to the response from this film that laid the foundation for Marchiano Ministires.
“When Matthew was released, I began receiving ministry/speaking invitations from all over the globe,” he said. “The Lord was touching lives, so ‘I went with it,’ and the ministry was born.”
Since then, Marchiano explained that the ministry has presented dozens of stadium “crusades,” and built churches in Africa. There, the organization cares for HIV-affected kids, and Marchiano Ministries has also partnered with an orphanage in India.
In recent years Marchiano, introduced a ministry film division, MarchMin Films, resulting in the release of his first film as writer/director, Alison’s Choice, in 2015.
“We are now raising funds for a film adaptation of the Gospel of John,” he said. “The only thing I enjoy more than making movies is ministry!”
This year, the actor graced silver screens around the world, appearing in the Kendrick Brothers’ highly successful motion picture Overcomer, cast in the role of Pastor Mark.
Embarking on a faith-based acting career has had its challenges. Marchiano laughed, commenting he “could write a book” about his experiences concerning mainstream push-back, and the suppression over being a “Christian actor” that still endures today.
“But once a guy experiences making films that the Lord uses to touch lives,” he shared, “at least for me, nothing else can begin to compare!”
Marchiano’s access into The Encounter TV series originated from the original 2011 full-length motion picture, The Encounter, and the sequel, The Encounter: Paradise Lost, released the following year. He played Christ in both projects and the movies influenced the Pure Flix series.
“The series was created when Pure Flix launched their streaming platform,” Marchiano explained. “They’d always had a very strong response to the films, so it was a natural step for them to take.”
While is was easy for Jesus to walk on water, being a part of The Encounter series team isn’t a cakewalk.
“We work hard--very hard--and the conditions are not always comfortable,” he said. “We shot the first season during the summer in Phoenix--there were days when the temp hit 115. But everyone knows we’re creating a show that’s meaningful and impacting. So, in spite of conditions, there’s a lot of excitement.”
Marchiano looks back fondly on the set of Season One, but points to the second coming of The Encounter, the new season, presenting a “wonderful bunch of guys and gals” comprising the crew.
“They all worked with a smile, no matter the pressure--which is hard to come by,” Marchiano shared. “The cast members were each a blessing in their own way, each unique in the creativity they brought to their characters, and every one of them giving their all.”
The actor revealed his favorite performer/character portrayal in the entire The Encounter legacy.
“It’s character actor Kass Connors, who plays the devil in all The Encounters [motion pictures],” Marchiano said. “Kass is a tremendous guy who really loves the Lord (in real life, haha!)”
Connors also appears in season one of the TV series, and is cast in the role of Reverend Cadwallader in an episode in season two.
While Bruce Marchiano hopes Pure Flix engages a third season The Encounter, but he also sees a return to the big screen, too, with the present incarnation.
“I think a big screen film [of The Encounter] would be very impacting,” Marchiano said. “I receive testimonies every day from all walks of life, both believers and non-believers, saying how The Encounter changed their life. I’ve received testimonies from Satanists, atheists...you name it, saying how they now found Jesus.”
Only God knows the plan, and Marchiano keeps the industry numbers game in a spiritual context.
“For me, those testimonies trump box-office numbers and awards all day long,” he shared. “So again, hopefully there are more ‘encounters’ to come! Glory to the name of Jesus!”
