<p id=”par-1_49″>A new 52 podcast series called <em>The Life of Jesus Podcast </em>recently announced that <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/nobody-wants-this-adam-brody-kristen-bell-see-noah-joannes-relationship-going-potential-season-2.html/”>Kristen Bell would star</a> as the voice of Mary Magdalene. Many people were surprised to hear this, including Bell herself. Here’s how she ended up as part of an <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/kristen-bell-gossip-girl.html/”>over 100-person cast</a> without knowing it.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-kristen-bell-did-not-know-she-was-the-star-of-a-new-podcast”>Kristen Bell did not know she was the star of a new podcast</h2>
<p id=”par-2_53″>On Nov. 19, Fox New Media’s network Fox Faith announced <em>The Life of Jesus Podcast</em>, which would bring listeners “through the life, teachings, and miracles of Jesus Christ.” The network announced that Bell would voice Mary Magdalene. This came as a huge shock to the actor, as she hadn’t <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/gossip-girl-kristen-bell-age-narrated-original-vs-reboot.html/”>recorded anything for it</a>. </p>
<p id=”par-3_41″>As it turns out, the podcast uses audio of her voice from <em>The Truth and Life Dramatized Audio Bible</em>. She recorded the audiobook 15 years ago. Neither Bell nor her reps gave their permission for the podcast to use her voice. </p>
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<iframe loading=”lazy” title=”Kristen Bell and Other Actors Had ‘No Idea’ Their Voices Would Be Used in Upcoming Jesus Podcast” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/m-fvi3yTeKA?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-4_67″>The 2010 audiobook also features actors <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/succession-doesnt-brian-cox-sympathize-onscreen-family.html/”>such as Brian Cox</a>, Sean Astin, Neal McDonough, Malcolm McDowell, John Rhys-Davies, and Julia Ormond. All of these names were also on the cast list as voices in<em>The Life of Jesus Podcast</em>. A rep for McDowell said they never would have approved if they knew about the podcast, and Cox only found out about the podcast when the general public did.</p>
<p id=”par-5_39″>“Brian recorded audio for a project over a decade ago,” a rep told <a href=”https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/kristen-bell-fox-jesus-podcast-1235469633/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Rolling Stone</a>. “He was unaware that the audio would be repurposed for a new podcast series in 2025. Brian only became aware of the podcast today.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_19″>Fox News Audio licensed the podcast from Gulfstream Studios, which owns rights to both the podcast and the audiobook.</p>