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Talk a bit about your own faith journey?

Isaac: I grew up in a very devoutly Christian home. And as Joseph, you know you kind of go through this journey of asking yourself questions, wondering if you're listening to God in the right way. It's definitely been an evolution of how I think. Making the film forced me to think about those things, my own spirituality. Having to play a pious Jewish man, not knowing what that's like, and to have to play somebody that devout—if you're an actor worth your salt, you really try to really put yourself in that place.

Do you think there's a "defining moment" for Joseph in this film?

Isaac: I see him as a character that's having to react a lot. He's got some issues to deal with; he's got a lot to work through. Mary is perhaps the more constant one. She's pondering a lot in her heart; she's taking things in quietly. Joseph is having to react a lot more and to figure out what he's going to do.

I think there's so many little moments that define him throughout the story, moments he's forced to make a decision, and he makes the right one. One of the defining moments is when he decides not to humiliate Mary publicly. I think that's really where his heart opens, because even though he has all those feelings, he decides not to stone her or humiliate her, and that's how he's able to hear God's voice.

Any last words on the film?

Isaac: I think what's really special about The Nativity Story is that it really treats them as real people, and yet you're still able to get all of the power of the story.

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