The Nativity Story
a new take on the
original Christmas tale
by Elizabeth Solsburg

FAITH Magazine talked to Mike Rich, screenwriter for The Nativity Story, which will be in theaters Dec. 1. Mike has had a string of great movies, including Finding Forrester, The Rookie and Miracle.

We talked to Mike from one of the movie’s locations in Morocco.

FAITH: What prompted you to do a movie on the nativity?

Rich: I think the seed was planted in December 2004. Newsweek and Time came out with stories the same week on the nativity. One of them was called Secrets of the Nativity. I sat down and read both of those articles. As a storyteller and screenwriter, I’ve always been attracted to those stories that really delve into character. When I was reading these pieces, it struck me that that approach had rarely been taken when it came to this particular story. And I think for good reason; there’s very little source material on it. It’s only been in two of the Gospels, and it’s a short narration at best.

I began nosing around doing research and found myself fascinated at the dynamics of what Joseph and Mary must have been dealing with – not from an event standpoint – but from a character standpoint, and some of the things that had to be going on within their own lives. I spent several months researching it.

FAITH: So how much of it draws on the Scriptural accounts and how much is fictionalized?

We used everything we could from Scripture. One of the choices I had to make very early on was whether I was going to blend the two Gospels, or stick with either Matthew or Luke exclusively. The decision I made, and I’m convinced it was the right one, was to blend the two. Because that’s what we do, from a nativity story standpoint. If I were to just go with Matthew and the Magi, we’d have audiences asking, “Where are the shepherds.” And if I were to go with Luke and the shepherds, they’d say the opposite.

I’m just like millions of other individuals – the day after Thanksgiving, I get out the nativity set and put it on the coffee table – and we’ve got all of those characters. So we used all of those Gospels and we used everything in them.

However, for example, in Luke it says, “Joseph took Mary and they traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem.” That’s one sentence that encompasses 100 miles. So that needed to be expanded. And it was difficult and challenging to write those speculative scenes, but my intent was to be as faithful and show as much devotion to the tone of those two Gospels as possible – and I’m really pleased to say that we’ve done that.

FAITH: It sounds like a great movie.

We’re really optimistic. When we started, we wanted to create this small, intimate character piece. And as a writer, you can only hope for the possibility that the words you put on paper are elevated by the director’s interpretation and the actors’ interpretation. And I just couldn’t be more pleased with the cast and the approach that Catherine Hardwicke, the director, has taken.

FAITH: How involved have you been with the production end of it?

We had such a tight schedule in pre-production that I was working very, very closely with Catherine. I felt that it was critically important, and the studio agreed, that a woman needed to be the director. It’s a woman’s story and we felt that interpretation and that perspective was going to be very important. I also got to go out and spend some time in Italy during the first part of production and have stayed in close contact with the producers and Catherine ever since.

FAITH: Why was the filming done in Italy? I read somewhere that Matera was more like Jerusalem than Jerusalem itself.

Yes. Mel Gibson filmed a good portion of The Passion in that area as well. I think we had the same reaction as he obviously did. We had taken a look at a number of other films with similar themes, and found that many of them had filmed in Italy. When Catherine saw Matera, this place where it is so clear that time has just stood still, it allowed us the opportunity to set up a number of sets that had that feel already without having to do a lot of work. The production team did an incredible job basically constructing the town of Nazareth in about three weeks’ time. And then, while we were filming, they constructed the town of Bethlehem.

And it was so inspiring. The woman who plays Mary’s mother, Hiam Abbass, was born in Nazareth. She told me that Matera felt more like Nazareth than Nazareth.

FAITH: Did I read that part of what prompted this was the death of your father?

Early in 2005, my dad passed away and certainly it was an emotional time for me. And one of the great joys that has come with this profession is sharing with family and friends some of these stories and successes. And I’m immensely proud of the films that I’ve made, but the one common theme they’ve had was a sports backdrop. I never think of them as sports films – I think of them as character pieces with a sports backdrop. I had been looking for an opportunity to find a different genre to write a character-driven piece. I got some advice when I started writing screenplays – “Write films you’ll be proud to show your grandchildren.” And after my dad passed away, it was a time of soul-searching about what I wanted to do about this next project. I wanted it to be something that was close to my heart and also about that theme I’ve pursued before – ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It was at that time I felt a sense of conviction about the research I’d been doing – that I needed to write the script.

FAITH: You’re a Christian yourself, aren’t you?

I am. My wife is Catholic and we were married in a Catholic church. We went to Mass while we were in Italy. The hotel manager told us where the church was but said, “I need to warn you – the Father will go very long.” And it was the longest homily this side of Palm Sunday! And in Italian, of course.

Did writing this movie impact your personal faith life?

Sure; how could it not? When I sit down to write a script – and they are hard to write – they take anywhere from four months to write a first draft. And I have to say that this was such a pleasure to write. I finished it in about five weeks, which was very quick for me. And I felt an innate sense of peace while I was writing it; that came from my own faith and so for me, it was an incredibly spiritual experience.

One of the things I’ll be forever grateful to New Line Cinema for is the commitment they showed to this. It’s a tight post-production schedule, but everything has gone well for us so far.

Your own story is interesting – what did you do before writing Finding Forrester, the screenplay that started your career?

Well, I’ve lived in Portland, Oregon for most of my adult life and I was a morning news anchor at an FM radio station there. I had long had an interest in creative writing, but it was more like a hobby – a creative release for me. I mostly wrote short stories, and then in the mid ’90s, started dabbling in screenplays. Like a lot of folks, I really love movies, so I would get up early in the morning – 3:15 a.m. to get to work at 5. I found myself with a couple of hours in the afternoon to write, then the kids would come home and the creative window would slam shut.

So I wrote a couple of scripts, and I submitted Finding Forrester to the Nicholl Fellowship competition. I’ll always be grateful because that competition allowed my work to be read by folks who could do something with it. So, a radio career turned into a screenwriting career in my late 30s, and I don’t know many folks who have done that. It’s been a real blessing for our entire family. My wife, Grace, and I have three kids – Jessica is 22, Caitlin is 19 and our son Michael is 16.

So, any special plans for Christmas?

Christmas is something that’s always been special in our household and this one we’re looking forward to for a very different reason. I think it’s going to be a really special season for us as a family.

Who were your expert consultants on the film?

I’m glad you asked that – I had a few contacts beforehand, but I’d done a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to textbooks. One of the main ones was what I considered one of the seminal texts on the story, Dr. Raymond Brown’s The Birth of the Messiah.
Every road leads to Ray Brown! It was about 950 pages and it was so invaluable – and not just from the biblical standpoint of the story. He offered so much from a cultural and political standpoint – those dynamics that are not just subtexts in this movie – they are primary texts. It really made the world in which Mary and Joseph were living come alive.

And New Line, very early on, really tried to take an open script approach with a variety of individuals. We had Jewish scholars, Catholic scholars, Protestant scholars, ecumenical scholars. I was very curious to see how the script was going to be received and it was incredibly gratifying to see the responses come back to reaffirm that the script was passing muster in that regard. That was great. We had a number of individuals who pointed out small things from a traditional and cultural perspective that we changed because Catherine was committed to keeping it as authentic and genuine as possible.

I’m really looking forward to seeing this.

So am I! I’m excited about seeing all the films that I write, but this one – even more so.