Last weekend, “Son of God” opened in movie theaters around the country. Churches rented auditoriums and believers from all denominations flocked to movie theaters to see this epic film.

Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey held a special press conference in which actor Darwin Shaw, who played the role of Peter, shared a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. Read this Q&A for amazing details about snakes and wind during six months of filming in Morocco.

Moderator: We heard there was a problem with snakes during the movie shoot. What happened?

DS: We shot in Morocco on the edge of the Sahara desert. We were doing the scene of the conversion of Matthew when a black viper went through the legs of one of the cameramen. That snake could have taken him out, but the cameraman remained unharmed.

[The film company] employed a man to capture snakes. On a typical day, he’d catch one to three snakes, including scorpions. But for the day of the crucifixion filming, there was a writhing sack of snakes on set. He had found 58 snakes under the rocks and in the area where the crucifixion was going to take place.

Moderator: Tell us about the wind you experienced on the movie set.

DS: We were filming the scene of Nicodemus meeting Jesus. We were in an olive grove around 4 or 5 in the morning. It was very cool, very still and pitch dark. The focus of the scene was on Nicodemus and Jesus, who says the line: “The wind blows where it will.”

At the moment just before Diogo [Morgado, who played Jesus] said the line, the wind swept up out of nowhere. Diogo’s hair got blown and he smiled and said: “The wind blows where it will.” It looked as if someone had turned a wind machine on, but there was no wind machine anywhere.

When Diogo was put on the cross, the wind came so strongly then too. One cameraman, who’s filmed several movies like this, said that whenever the [character of] Jesus gets put on the cross, the weather just goes crazy.

Moderator: Where will you watch the movie?

DS: I’m hoping Diogo will be back in LA. We’ll sneak into a movie theater and see how the public is experiencing it.

Moderator: With no dirt, grime, beards or long hair, I don’t think anyone will recognize you.

DS: No, probably not.

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