HBO Cocks Head, Shrugs, Casts Jude Law as an American Pope

In the upcoming series The Young Pope, Jude Law will portray an Italian-American pope named Pius XIII. Hmmmm. Let’s take a few moments to deconstruct that first sentence. “In the upcoming series The Young Pope…” —OK, so there’s going to be a series about a young pope, got it—“… Jude Law will portray an Italian-American pope named Pius XIII.” An Italian-American pope will be played by known Englishman Jude Law. Sure.

Reports Sky News:

Law will play Lenny Belardo who is thrust into the role of Pontiff and must grapple with his faith and the powerful structures of the church…“No one, even at the Vatican, is prepared for how hard-line this American Pope really is,” Tony Grisoni, who is one of the writers, recently told Variety.

I wonder who they considered for the role of Lenny Belardo before offering it to Jude Law. Hugh Grant? Jean Dujardin? Rebel Wilson? I’m sure none of them could compete with the stellar performance Law gave as this young American:

The Young Pope, oddly cast as it is, has plenty of big names behind it. It’s a joint production of HBO, Canal+, and Sky, and will be directed by Paolo Sorrentino, whose The Great Beauty won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2014. They all must know what they’re doing, right?