I've never seen this until now but if Mary was about 15 (or even a few years younger) when Jesus was born and he died at 33, she would've been AT LEAST 45 years old. Anne Bancroft (Mary Magdalene) looked more like what age Mother Mary would've been - not Olivia Hussey.
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One school of thought, if I recall, is that Mary never appeared more than 33 years old. I don't think that it's a matter of doctrine for any faith group, but it's certainly true that Catholic portrayals of her are never much older than that...and usually younger. My suspicion is that Olivia's youthful appearance is a gentle nod to that concept.
shareWell, I think Olivia did a great job and she is one of my favorite actresses so I didn't mind.
shareMary (as a character in the film) has her best and most important scenes in the beginning of the film and The Conception is paramount for the movie. Therefore, the casting of the Holy Virgin was dependent on the actress' ability to pass as an innocent 14-16 year old and Bussey did in spades. Yes, Bancroft would have been a good choice for later on but wouldn't have passed as a teenager. Olivia Hussey was still believable later on with the aging makeup and some gray hair.
shareWell here she is at age 65.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/fa/0c/ff/fa0cff1ec5ce1b0e75ea809dfd1270b7.jpg
Still beautiful.
"A stitch in time, saves your embarrassment." (RIP Ms. Penny LoBello)
It did seem peculiar that Mary looked younger than Jesus during his ministry.
shareInteresting, I thought Siobhan McKenna and Dorothy McGuire were a little too old for the infancy scenes, and felt Hussey was more convincing as the young Mary.
shareMichelangelo is said to have answered his biographer Condivi who questioned the youthful appearance of Mary on the Pieta` something along the lines that a chaste woman appears young longer than those women who are not. He was a Catholic and the doctrine is that Mary remained ever virgin. Zefferelli was a Catholic, too.
I could be a morning person if morning happened at noon.