Trivia / The Two Popes

• The Cast Showoff: Anthony Hopkins gets to demonstrate his piano playing skills as Benedict.
• Dawson Casting: Juan Minujín was 43 when he played young Bergoglio from his 20s to his late 40s.
• Dueling Works: Came out less than a month before The New Pope (the sequel Mini Series to The Young Pope) which also features two modern-day popes, with one being elected to replace the other who's still living but can't do his duty anymore. The Two Popes is about Real Life figures (Benedict XVI and Francis) while The New Pope is about fictional popes.
• Fake Nationality: Welshmen Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins as the Italian-Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio/Francis and the German Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: The uncanny resemblance between Jonathan Pryce and Pope Francis had been widely noted in pop culture prior to this movie. Now it comes full circle as the former plays the latter.
• Underage Casting: Both Pryce and Hopkins were at least seven years younger than their characters as they portrayed them at their oldest in the movie.
• What Could Have Been: The film was originally titled The Pope. Then Anthony Hopkins was cast and Hopkins' agent suggested changing the title to The Two Popes.

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