Minnie Driver says playing Sarah in Fox’s The Faithful: Women of the Bible required a leap of faith. The event series is a dramatization of the Book of Genesis, told through the eyes of some of the iconic women of the Bible.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been drawn to playing women who take big leaps of faith — whether romantically, spiritually or morally,” Driver said ahead the show’s world premiere at London’s National Portrait Gallery. “Stepping into the role of Sarah required embracing all three and more, as Sarah is an extraordinary human, having a deeply spiritual experience.”
Driver’s character Sarah is married to Abraham (Jeffery Donovan). They struggle to become parents and she resorts to her own plan to bring a child into the world involving her maidservant Hagar (Natacha Karam). “Her path to faith was a really interesting and difficult journey and, as with all great storytelling, Sarah’s life and predicament is both relatable and fascinating,” Driver said. “It is a great pleasure, and not before time, to bring Sarah’s story and the stories of all these remarkable, biblical matriarchs into the light.”
In the U.S. the series will play on Fox in three 90-minute instalments, starting March 22 and playing weekly through Easter Sunday. Fox Entertainment Studios is producing and Fox Entertainment Global is across international sales. FEG is offering it to buyers as in 90-minute version, or a six-part 60-minute series and it is the distributor’s big launch at this week’s London TV Screenings.
The Faithful cast at the world premiere of the series in London
Deadline
The series was developed by Carol Mendelsohn (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) who has a deal at Fox. René Echevarria (Terra Nova) is showrunner. “These are sacred stories that have been shared, studied, and cherished for thousands of years,” he told the London crowd. “The question for us was not simply how to retell them, but how to illuminate them in a way that felt both reverent and meaningful for today’s audience.”
He said telling the stories through the eyes of the women was the way to bring the stories to a modern TV audience. “While Scripture gives us glimpses of their lives, there is so much space between the lines.”