HERE'S A LONG ARTICLE ON ANNE RICE and her Jesus book in the Chicago-Sun Times:

Rice: 'The doctor told me to say my goodbyes'

March 13, 2006

BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Johnny Depp would make a perfect Jesus. At least that's what Anne Rice thinks. And she has given it a lot of thought. "Definitely, Johnny Depp," she says decisively, casting, in her imagination, the hypothetical leading man of the television series she hopes to develop for HBO based on her latest novel, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, which chronicles Jesus' life. "I haven't told Johnny Depp yet, but wouldn't he be perfect?"

[...]

Well, she had better hurry. I like Johnny Depp too, but he's getting a little over the hill to play Jesus.

There's lots in the article and I don't have time to comment on it. But I leave you with this excerpt:

Rice is a fan of Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ" and says claims by critics that it is the "most violent film ever made" are ridiculous.

"I couldn't believe it. I thought, 'You haven't seen "The Last of the Mohicans"? You didn't get dragged to a Freddy Krueger movie by your 11-year-old son, like I did?' I was hiding under the seats while he's sitting there eating popcorn as Freddy murders people," she says, laughing. "The most violent movie ever made? Come on. Do kids really wake up in the middle of the night screaming that they're afraid of Roman soldiers?"

I still feel queasy when I remember The Last of the Mohicans.

UPDATE (15 March): But Joe Cathey liked it.