Eugene Levy Refused to Wax His Chest for the Role of Jesus
Eugene Levy has played a polka star, an aging folk musician and a whole lot of awkward dads grappling with horny teenagers. But before all of that, the SCTV star once took on the role of Jesus Christ. Thankfully, it was for a project that in no way involved Mel Gibson.
As we recently mentioned, Levy was a cast member in the legendary Toronto production of Godspell, the revisionist Biblical musical about the life of Jesus and his clown-colored disciples. The Canadian crew also included Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Victor Garber and the late Gilda Radner.
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This particular staging of Godspell is now the subject of a new documentary, bearing the lengthy title You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls and Created a Community That Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way).
As the doc reveals, Levy originally played a character named Herb. But the soon-to-be-legendary cast members were only given year-long contracts, meaning that after 12 months, a number of performers left the show. Suddenly, the lead role of Jesus was vacant and Levy thought, “I betcha I could probably do this.”
He auditioned for the part, and was ultimately successful. “I think I was the first Jewish-looking Jesus that any of the productions had,” Levy reasoned, pointing out that Godspell’s messiah usually had more of a “Ronald McDonald” vibe. “I definitely was sporting my ethnicity and a little hair,” he added.
The hair factor quickly became a point of contention, owing to the fact that Jesus makes his entrance wearing only a pair of boxer shorts, symbolizing his creation.
“The director came up and asked me if I would mind waxing the hair off my body,” Levy recalled. Godspell’s musical director, Paul Shaffer, explained that the producers were worried that Levy was “too hairy” and would “scare the kids in the matinee.” But Levy flat-out refused to take such a drastic action.
“No, I’m not waxing any hair off my body,” he told the director. Instead he was given a tank top to wear along with the shorts during the opening scene, so as not to traumatize children with the sight of a man’s chest hair.
With Levy playing Jesus, his old part went to friend and future SCTV co-star Dave Thomas, who was busy working on completing a “stupid degree” at university. Unfortunately, Thomas couldn’t dance, and only lasted for three months before exiting the musical.
Hey, at least the producers didn’t try to force him to painfully remove his body hair.
