Zone Conference Visitor

We were privileged to meet and hear from Savannah Stevenson, a lifelong member of the church who played the part of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the Bible videos.

From her website:
“Savannah trained at The Guildford School of Acting. She won a scholarship to the three year degree course and graduated with First Class Honours in Performance and the Principals Award in 2004.

Savannah made West End headlines when she played the iconic role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, with no rehearsal. She stepped in for the matinee performance opposite Pop Idol's Darius Danesh as Rhett Butler the day after opening night. Savannah
was understudy to the role but had not yet been rehearsed. She was word perfect however and played to standing ovations and rave reviews for her following performances.

Recently she was chosen after worldwide auditions to play Mary, Mother of Jesus in new film version of The New Testament for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was filmed on location in the USA.”

Savannah said that she had had opportunities to play parts that weren't up to church standards, but she had turned them down.  When she was interviewed by the church for the part they asked her if she had done anything in her professional career that would show the church in a bad light.  She was able to honestly answer no.

A friend called her on the last day of auditions and encouraged her to try out. The audition included the scene where Mary greets Elizabeth, which wasn’t intended to be included in the final production. However, it turned out so well it became part of the Bible videos.

Savannah also plays Mary later in life. As they were filming the crucifixion she couldn’t watch, even though it was portrayed by actors and not real. She couldn’t look up until the scene where she, as Mary, looked up at her son on the cross.

Her most powerful testimony was that of kneeling at the cross of Jesus when he was crucified.  She described being "pierced" by the Spirit, as he was pierced in his hands and feet.