‘Bernadette’ star still moved by saint’s story

We offer a conversation with actress Sydney Penny, who as a young girl portrayed St. Bernadette in a film finally being released on DVD.

Seventeen years ago, a young American actress was handpicked to bring the story of St. Bernadette Soubirous to the silver screen.

Now, “Bernadette” (Ignatius), the film that captures the young saint’s life and the miraculous apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes, is being released for the first time to American audiences on DVD.

Actress Sydney Penny spoke with Zenit, a Vatican-connected news service, about why she was drawn to St. Bernadette, how filming the movie inspired her, and how its message is still relevant today.

 

Zenit: Why did you agree to play the main character in the films?

Sydney Penny: As an actor, it was a marvelous opportunity for me to play such a role and to be directed by one of France’s most well-respected directors. As a person, I wanted to be part of something that intended to tell a beautiful story honestly—a story of how a young woman, uneducated, unschooled in catechism, poor and sickly, needed only a willing heart to learn the truth. And that truth led her through adversity, loneliness, controversy, illness and even unto the moment of her death.

 

Z: Did playing this saint affect you spiritually?

SP: I knew nothing about Bernadette Soubirous before I received the script. The first description I was given was just that she was a young girl from a poor family whose visions of the “Lady in White” elevated her to fame. As I began to learn more about her, I discovered that she was just like so many teenagers—awkward, challenged in her studies, and trying to bear up under the pressures of her family and then later, the pressure the world put on her.

Her honesty and humility moved me, and what touched me spiritually was the simple thought that there is a message for each of us, if only we keep our ears open to hear it.

 

Z: Have you been to Nevers to see the incorrupt body of Bernadette?

SP: We filmed “La Passion de Bernadette” in the convent where she lived out her life in Nevers, France. The sisters speak of Bernadette as if she were still among them, and in a way, she is.

Bernadette was buried and exhumed three times as part of the canonization process. Each time she was exhumed she was exactly as she had been the last time, uncorrupted. The decision was made to build a glass coffin and leave her lying in state in the sanctuary, which is where she is today.

Seeing her was very moving, so tiny and fragile; and it was probably the only time an actor has ever come face to face with the historical figure they were portraying.

 

Z: Are you aware that “Bernadette” is the “official” film shown daily at the shrine of Lourdes?

 

SP: I am aware that “Bernadette” is the official film shown in Lourdes. (Director) Jean Delannoy set out to make a film that was historically accurate, with no distortions in the telling. Obviously the film needed to be dramatic, but the story is moving enough without changing it arbitrarily as had been done before.

I’m pleased to be part of something that endures and hopefully illuminates and inspires those who visit Lourdes.

 

Z: What kind of a response have you received in the film world for playing St. Bernadette?

SP: There was great interest by the French press, especially since Delannoy was directing it—well into his 80s at the time—and that an American actress was playing a French saint. But the film world has taken little notice of the film until this time, nearly 17 years later when the industry has grudgingly recognized that people need stories that fuel their soul as well as those that entertain.

In general, the film world doesn’t respond positively to films with a religious overtone or that are spiritual in nature because it is considered controversial, or a particular company does not want to appear to be espousing a certain religion to the exclusion of others—which may offend some moviegoers.

Also, films of this genre oftentimes lack technical merit, the story being the only strength of the film. Mel Gibson’s recent success with “The Passion of the Christ” has certainly changed perceptions in the film world.

 

Z: Are you Catholic?

SP: I am not Catholic. I am a Christian, a Protestant and I have always been a passionate student of religion—all religions—because I believe that truth is available to us all if we desire to know it and listen for it.

The rituals that describe it may be different, yet truth is universal.

 

Z: What do you think of the story of Lourdes and of St. Bernadette?

SP: The story of Bernadette and Lourdes seems almost incredible, living in these modern times. But many magnificent and incredible things happen every day—we just have developed the habit of analyzing them into insignificance.

Bernadette’s story is a symbol of hope, an example of the power that one person’s faith can have on the world.

 

Z: How do you think modern audiences would benefit from seeing a film like this about St. Bernadette and the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes?

SP: The virtue of humility and the value of honesty are timeless. Bernadette spoke of what she saw simply as a lady in white—and faith is that pure, that simple.

We sometimes trip ourselves up with intellectual, metaphysical questions. Sometimes you just have to trust and believe.

 

Z: What does Bernadette have to say to today’s young people?

SP: Bernadette herself probably wouldn’t have given any advice since she was convinced she knew nothing! It’s good to remember that even as we strive in our lives and in our careers, that our successes are a reflection of the gifts we are divinely given; we ourselves can create nothing.

 

Z: How did your perception of St. Bernadette change after you finished the two films?

SP: I think I came to know Bernadette the girl, Bernadette the person, who had far more trials and tribulations than most anyone will ever deal with—illness, poverty, being the center of huge controversy—and yet sailed above it all by holding on to her convictions. And she discovered a great spiritual treasure in her heart that she imparted to the world in the process.

 

Z: Why do you think there is a resurgence of interest in films with an overtly spiritual theme?

SP: I simply think that people crave connection with that which is bigger than they are. Our postmodern, secular, humanist world has devalued man’s spiritual side, and, in fact, anything that can’t be seen through a microscope or quantified.

In the world’s desire to know more, we have lost the knowledge of who we really are, why we’re here—not just how we got here, but why the life we lead and how we lead it matters.

 

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