The questionable sincerity of CBS’s Stephen Colbert’s devout Catholicism was on display for the second straight night as The Late Show host welcomed actress Cynthia Erivo to hype her upcoming role as Jesus, telling her that her casting as the “first woman to play Jesus in a major production, long overdue.”
Colbert began, “One of my favorite musicals of all time is Jesus Christ Superstar. I love that—and I’m so excited that in August you’re going to be playing Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar. At the Hollywood Bowl.
Apparently, the Hollywood Bowl saw all the criticism Netflix got for rumors it is considering casting Meryl Streep as Aslan, C.S. Lewis’s lion supposal Jesus character, in its Chronicles of Narnia adaptation, and decided to take it one step further.
As for Colbert and Erivo, the former added, “First woman to play Jesus in a major production, long overdue, I’ve said for years I’d love to see a woman in that part” before asking, “What does that mean to you?”
Erivo, who has elsewhere told critics of the move to basically get over it, replied that, “It just means a lot to me. I think the idea that I can play this role and I’ve been given the opportunity to play it in front of so many people at that place, this time of my life is a very special thing. It’s the first time I’ve been on stage in that way for a long time, so to do it with this role is awesome and—”
Colbert interrupted and steered the conversation to more technical aspects of the role rather than the obvious historical fact that Jesus lived as a male. Jesus Christ Superstar is obviously anachronistic, but while The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops considers it suitable for adults only, it does not consider it to be “morally offensive.” Gender-swapping characters in reboots or adaptations is highly controversial, and it is hard to talk about with identity politics, but whatever one thinks of the concept generally, everyone, especially CBS hosts who like to use their Catholicism to make political points, should be able to recognize that the Son of God is not Ghostbusters or Ocean’s 8.
Here is a transcript for the June 5-taped show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
6/6/2025
12:05 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: One of my favorite musicals of all time is Jesus Christ Superstar. I love that—and I’m so excited that in August you’re going to be playing Jesus —
CYNTHIA ERIVO: That’s right.
COLBERT: In Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl.
ERIVO: That’s right, yeah, yeah.
COLBERT: At the Hollywood Bowl. First woman to play Jesus in a major production, long overdue, I’ve said for years I’d love to see a woman in that part and what does that mean to you?
ERIVO: It just means a lot to me. I think the idea thata I can play this role and I’ve been given the opportunity to play it in front of so many people at that place, this time of my life is a very special thing. It’s the first time I’ve been on stage in that way for a long time, so to do it with this role is awesome and—
COLBERT: And an incredibly demanding part—
ERIVO: Yes.
COLBERT: I mean, Jesus is a rock opera, you know, you got to have the—
ERIVO: Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, the range and things.
COLBERT: — obviously, you have the range, you know that.
ERIVO: Oh wow, thanks.
