Age of The Nerd
After the success of Paolo Sorrentino’s HBO series The Young Pope, the Italian director is back to launch the second season of his semi-realistic Vatican anthology reboot aptly titled The New Pope.
For the upcoming second season, Sorrentino has cast actor John Malkovich, who will portray a cardinal working closely with Pope Pius XIII, played once again by Jude Law. Other castings for the upcoming season includes both Marilyn Manson and Sharon Stone, which comes as a bit of surprise.
According to Variety, the singer and actress are huge fans of The Young Pope and of Paolo Sorrentino’s work in general. The roles they’ll be playing remain enigmatic, but HBO has revealed two photos which provide a few details. Marilyn Manson will be playing a character rather like himself, while Sharon Stone will be a relative or acquaintance of the cardinal played by John Malkovich.
Despite the anthology format, several members of the original cast will also be back, including French actresses Ludivine Sagnier and Cécile de France, along with the excellent Silvio Orlando. Season 2 is currently being filmed at the legendary Cinecittà studios, although no release date has yet been revealed. In the meantime, here’s the synopsis form season 1:
The Young Pope’ tells the controversial story of the beginning of Pius XIII’s pontificate. Born Lenny Belardo, he is a complex and conflicted character, so conservative in his choices as to border on obscurantism, yet full of compassion towards the weak and poor. The first American pope, Pius XIII is a man of great power who is stubbornly resistant to the Vatican courtiers, unconcerned with the implications to his authority.
