Maia Morgenstern

Acting

Maia Morgenstern

Born 1962-05-01 · Bucharest, Romania

A Romanian film and stage actress,  described by Florin Mitu of AMOS News as "a symbol of Romanian theater and film".  In the English-speaking world, she is probably best known for the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. In Romania, she has been nationally known since her 1992 role as Nela in Balanţa, a film known in the United States as The Oak, set during the waning days of Communist Romania. Description above from the Wikipedia article Maia Morgenstern, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

The Passion of the Christ poster
7.5

A graphic portrayal of the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life.

The Passion of the Christ

2004

High Strung poster
7.0

When a hip hop violinist busking in the New York subway encounters a classical dancer on scholarship at the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts, sparks fly. With the help of a hip hop dance crew they must find a common ground while preparing for a competition that could change their lives forever.

High Strung

2016

The Crucifixion poster
5.7

When a priest is jailed for the murder of a nun on whom he was performing an exorcism, an investigative journalist strives to determine whether he in fact murdered a mentally ill person, or if he lost the battle with a demonic presence.

The Crucifixion

2017

Ulysses' Gaze poster
7.5

An exiled filmmaker finally returns to his home country where former mysteries and afflictions of his early life come back to haunt him once more.

Ulysses' Gaze

1995

What About Love poster
1.0

Two young lovers change the lives of their parents forever when the parents learn from the joyful experience of their kids, and allow themselves to again find their love.

What About Love

2024

Too Hot for May poster
7.8

At a party, the class valedictorian gravely injures a passer by with some saucers thrown through the window. Characters are tested by what follows.

Too Hot for May

1984

Iubire Elenă poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Iubire Elenă

2012

The Oak poster
6.7

A description of Romania before Ceausescu's downfall, through the story of Nela. Daughter of a former colonel of the Securitate, the romanian political police. She refused to become like her sister, an agent of this Securitate, and lives with her father. After he died, she leaves Bucharest, and ends up in a little town, where she meets Mitica, a surgeon, another herself, laughing at everything.

The Oak

1992

No artwork available
10.0

Poland is invaded by Nazi Germany and entrusts the national treasure to Romania. In September 1939, the Romanian government thus took an enormous risk.

Marea sfidare

1990

The Bra poster
6.0

Train driver Nurlan’s heading to Baku for the last time before retirement, but on his fateful journey around the neighborhoods of the city his train snags a blue bra off a washing line. To escape from his lonely existence, Nurlan embarks on the most adventurous journey of his life: to find the owner of this perky piece of underwear. He rents a small room in Baku and begins his quest to find his “Cinderella”.

The Bra

2019

My Mother, My Bride And I poster
3.9

At 41, Erwin Kobarek still lives with his mother, with whom he runs a petrol station in the countryside. A relationship has not yet materialized for Erwin. When his mother senses that her son needs a wife, she sends Erwin to a marriage agency in Romania. And indeed, Erwin returns with a young Romanian woman, Irina Bobescu. She sets something irreversible in motion in him: the detachment from his mother and the moulting from boy to belated man.

My Mother, My Bride And I

2008

Fault Condition poster
8.0

Melania, a 15 years old high school student gets pregnant with Emi, a classmate. Melania does not tell anyone she's pregnant, Not even to Emi, or to her parents. The situation is extremely complicated because Emi's mother is the director of the high school where the two lovers study, and Melania's mother is secretary at the same high school. In the fifth month of pregnancy, Melania faints during class hours. She is urgently taken to the hospital by her mother who finds her daughter is 5 months pregnant so it's too late for an abortion. Melanie's mother is forced to tell the truth to Emi's mother. Emi's mother forces Melania's mother to promise to keep the pregnancy secret to everyone, even to Emi. Minor's mothers separates the two lovers and decide to give the baby up for adoption to a family of Romanians living abroad who don't have the right to legally adopt a child from Romania.

Fault Condition

2018

Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula poster
6.1

Meet the man behind the legend in this true story of Vlad the Impaler, whose vicious and cruel reputation as a bloodthirsty warlord became the basis for the myth of Dracula.

Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula

2000

Betrayal poster
7.0

After the war, in Bucharest, a young Romanian poet arrested for having written an article denouncing Stalinist crimes, will save his life by accepting to become a hostage of the regime.

Betrayal

1993

Nostradamus poster
5.8

A dramatic retelling of the life of Michel de Nostredame, from his early work as a plague doctor to his time at the court of Catherine de Medici, after he became famed for his prophetic almanacs. Stars Rutger Hauer and Julia Ormond.

Nostradamus

1994

Planurile iubirii poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Planurile iubirii

Eva poster
6.3

Eva meets Tudor on the day of her 16th birthday. It is Tudor who is to make her feel whole as a woman. He becomes for her a source of both love and suffering through his constant mysterious departures and reappearances.

Eva

2010

Isha poster
4.6

Rahmi, a Romanian immigrant living in England, creates a new life for himself while trying to keep up appearances with his Muslim family. This moving, evocative drama costars renowned Romanian actress Maia Morgenstern and Game of Thrones’ Lino Facioli alongside newcomer Hora Savescu as Rahmi.

Isha

2019

The Season of Love poster
7.1

The action of the movie take place in a factory and presents the conflicts between one engineer and some young workers.

The Season of Love

1987

I'm Moving in with Mom poster
NR

Adriana, a 65-year-old woman, tries to live her life to the fullest, rediscovering her femininity and her desire to love. Her sons, Gabriel, a self-absorbed corporate man, and Andrei, a man on the verge of personal and professional failure, suddenly invade her life, each with their own crises. Gabriel juggles a tense marriage and extramarital temptations, and Andrei runs away from a broken relationship and professional failures. Three destinies collide under the same roof, in a carousel of comic situations, dramatic moments and intimate revelations. The three come to understand that family, with all its conflicts and absurdities, remains the only safe haven.

I'm Moving in with Mom

The New Gospel poster
6.8

What would Jesus preach in the 21st century? Who would his disciples be? And how would today's society respond to the return of the Son of God? With The New Gospel, Milo Rau is staging a "Revolt of Dignity". Led by political activist Yvan Sagnet, the movement is fighting for the rights of migrants who came to Europe across the Mediterranean to be enslaved on the tomato fields in southern Italy and to live in ghettos under inhumane conditions.

The New Gospel

2020

The Goat and Her Three Kids poster
7.2

Secluded from the world, a single mother of three must defend what's left of her family from a cold-blooded killer, at all costs.

The Goat and Her Three Kids

2022

Kidnapped in Romania poster
2.9

A couple of Italo-American journalists go missing during their work assignment in Romania.

Kidnapped in Romania

2016

ABC Primetime: Mel Gibson's Passion poster
10.0

In this special edition of Primetime, ABC News' Diane Sawyer interviews filmmaker Mel Gibson about his highly controversial movie, ""The Passion of the Christ."" He responds to charges that the movie's portrayal of the Jewish role in the death of Christ will encourage anti-Semitism. He also elaborates on comments he's made about the Holocaust. In addition, Gibson tells why he felt it necessary to exhibit such a graphic depiction of Christ's crucifixion on film and discusses his decision to tell the story in Aramaic and Latin.

ABC Primetime: Mel Gibson's Passion

2004