He may never have seen Oscar-winner Jon Voight as a male prostitute in "Midnight Cowboy," but Pope Benedict XVI will be among the first to see him portray the last head of the Roman Catholic Church.
CBS television said on Wednesday that Benedict will attend a world premiere screening of the network's upcoming big-budget miniseries charting the life of the late Pope John Paul II, with Voight in the title role.
The special screening of "Pope John Paul II" will be held November 17 at the Vatican in the Paolo VI Hall, site of the pope's weekly general audience, ahead of the network broadcast of the two-part miniseries on December 4 and December 7, CBS said.
Other guests slated to attend the world premiere next month include Voight and two Vatican figures portrayed in the show -- John Paul's longtime private secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, and press office director Dr. Joaquin Navarro Valls.
Benedict also appears in a brief depiction from the time when he was known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
The four-hour, fact-based drama chronicles the story of the former Karol Wojtyla from his youth in Poland through his more than 26-year-long papacy.
The script was written under the guidance of the Vatican, which also granted producers access to exclusive footage for the program in and around St. Peter's Square. Parts of the drama were shot in Poland.
Voight, 66, who earned his first Oscar nomination for his 1969 role as a male prostitute in "Midnight Cowboy," plays John Paul during his years as pope. He won an Academy Award for playing a disabled Vietnam War veteran in "Coming Home."
Lesser-known actor Cary Elwes ("The Princess Bride," "Saw") will play the title character in his adult years prior to being elected pontiff.
The miniseries also co-stars Ben Gazzara as the Vatican secretary of state, Christopher Lee as a Polish cardinal and James Cromwell as an archbishop who ran an underground seminary during the Nazi occupation of Poland.
The CBS miniseries is not the first TV dramatization of John Paul's life. A film about his early years, "Karol: The Man Who Became Pope," aired on Italian television in April, less than a month after the pontiff's death.
CBS, the most watched U.S. TV network, is owned by Viacom Inc..
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