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So how'd you bring that knowledge to your portrayal of Mary in this film?

Hardwicke: We wanted her to feel accessible to a young teenager, so she wouldn't seem so far away from their life that it had no meaning for them. I wanted them to see Mary as a girl, as a teenager at first, not perfectly pious from the very first moment. So you see Mary going through stuff with her parents where they say, "You're going to marry this guy, and these are the rules you have to follow." Her father is telling her that she's not to have sex with Joseph for a year—and Joseph is standing right there. That's very personal and startling, and you can imagine how that would make a person feel.

And then Mary sort of stalks out of the house. Was that meant to indicate Mary's rebellion against her parents, or just that she was upset or overwhelmed?

Hardwicke: I think all of it. I think it's something Keisha just felt and went with. It was as if so much information is coming at you, and it all happened so fast.

Joseph is just a background character in other movies, but he's very much in the foreground here. What do you like about that?

Hardwicke: That's the human part of the story, that there was this relationship. The Bible says that Joseph was a righteous man. But go beyond that sentence: What was in his mind? What was in his heart? What soul searching did he do? He loved Mary, and yet that was a hard thing to see this woman pregnant. And he knew he wasn't the father. The Bible also says Joseph considered divorcing Mary quietly. Well, what did that look like? What torment did he go through, struggling with his religion, his beliefs, his love for this woman, his love for God. I mean, so much comes from that sentence. And that's what we tried to show, the best we could to imagine it.

Oscar Isaac as Joseph, Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary

Was it a balancing act for you to try to portray Mary as a real person and yet maintain reverence for Mary the icon?

Hardwicke: It's amazing that somehow Mary's heart and soul provide comfort for so many people, who have such love and reverence for her. Yes, we wanted her to feel like a real person, but of course, you wouldn't want to see her doing something that would make us cringe. In the beginning of the film, you see her playing in the fields with the other kids, and you see another girl flirting with a boy—but I didn't want to have Mary flirting with a boy. That didn't feel right; that would have crossed the line.

Keisha played Mary with a beautiful serenity and an inner peace and strength that even when these problems came upon her and people were doubting her, she still said that line we use in the movie, "There's a will for this child that is greater than what people may say." She said it with such dignity and grace that it made me feel, That's what Mary would be like.

The film does not show the "heavenly host" of angels from Luke 2:13-14. How come?

Hardwicke: We don't portray a visual multitude of angels, but we do have an oral multitude—you hear a whole choir singing. We have one angel appear, and then we have the beautiful choir of heavenly hosts singing.

We had thought of different ways to portray it visually, but visual effects have become almost a convention of sci-fi movies. I didn't want people to start thinking, Oh, I saw that effect in Batman 2 or in Contact or something. I don't want viewers to lose the thread of where we were 2000 years ago. So I think I thought simpler was better—that you can hear the multitude singing, but not see them.

Several people associated with this film have said that in some ways it's been a spiritual experience. What about for you?

Hardwicke: Definitely. I've just seen my little Nativity scene from my childhood come to life. I've always loved this story, but I didn't ever think so deeply about it. I didn't get inside … till now.

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