| Maia Morgernstern (b. May 1, 1962) is a Romanian film and stage actress. In the English-speaking world, she is probably best known for the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ". In Romania, she has been nationally known since her 1992 role as Nela in "Balan?a", a film known in the United States as "The Oak", set during the waning days of Communist Romania.
Born in Bucharest, in a Jewish family, she graduated from the Film and Theatre Academy of Bucharest in 1985, then she played at the youth theater (Teatrul Tineretului) in Piatra Neam? until 1988, then at the Teatrul Evreiesc de Stat (State Jewish Theatre) in Bucharest 1988-1990. Since 1990 she has been a member of the company of the National Theatre in Bucharest; in addition, she continues to act at the State Jewish Theatre and other Bucharest theaters. Among her notable stage roles in recent years, in a Romanian-language production of The Blue Angel (?ngerul Albastru in Romanian) at Bucharest's Odeon Theater, in 2001-2 she played (to great critical acclaim) Lola Lola, the character made famous by Marlene Dietrich. At the same time, she was also playing the role of Kathleen Hogan in a Romanian-language production of Israel Horovitz 's "Park Your Car in Harvard Yard " at the State Jewish Theater.
Morgenstern has appeared in numerous films, primarily in Hungarian and Romanian-language roles. In "The Passion of the Christ", she acts a role in Aramaic, but like the other actors in the cast of that film, she simply memorized her lines phonetically.
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