Voight to play Pope

Jon Voight

Hollywood tough guy Jon Voight is to put his past behind him to play the late Pope John Paul II in an American television film. He will replace British actor Ian Holm in the TV miniseries after Holm pulled out of the project citing personal reasons.

Voight will play the Pope from his election, to the papacy, to his death in April. Actor Cary Elwes is cast as the younger Polish priest Karol Wojtyla.