Jon Voight on Pope John Paul II (miniseries)

“It was wonderful to understand enough about those areas to be able to put a focus on them — protecting his sense of humor, protecting his emotional presence, his toughness.”

“He was always on the go; he didn’t want to miss out on anything. Every person he came into contact with was a gift, and with that gift came something to be given, something to be received, something to learn.”

“It has created an urgency in me, to communicate his most important lesson: We are all different, but we are all going to the same place. We are all going to God. And we must never discriminate against any one faith.”

“When you have a person who's the most recorded person in history, you have a lot of information coming at you, and it's him-not people talking about him, but him. You can look at his behavior, feel his emotion, see how he touches people, hear his own words in your language, because he spoke so many languages. It's a treasury that's a tremendous gift for all of us. I'm thinking, with all this available, why do we need a fictionalized portrait? But I found that interpreting him was a great joy for me, and I felt we did bring some things to the table that made it a responsible contribution.”