Imagine this: you’re an actor or actress with a fairly thriving career. Perhaps you’ve played a superhero or heroine, have been the leading man or woman in a movie, or, maybe you’re a rock star. Then, one fateful day, a script lands in your hands with a note that the part you’re being considered for is God — The Almighty Creator, Allah, Creator, Eternal, Everlasting. It’s not often that actors and actresses (and rock stars) get the opportunity to play God, and the handful who did have each taken their own approach to the job.
The six celebrities below have all played God (two of them multiple times) in films. From rock stars Alanis Morissette and Rob Zombie to comedic legend Rodney Dangerfield and Oscar-winner Whoopi Goldberg, along with two actors (George Burns and Morgan Freeman) who’ve played the almighty creator more than once, all of these people have made their mark in film history. These actors have excelled at playing God.

6 Rob Zombie — Super

Heavy metal rock n roller and film director Rob Zombie provided the voice of God in James Gunn’s 2010 superhero satire Super. The film starred Rainn Wilson as a short order cook named Frank who is trying to rescue his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) from a nefarious drug dealer. Along the way, he transforms into an inept superhero called The Crimson Bolt. Super also starred Elliot Page, Kevin Bacon, and Nathan Fillion as a character called The Holy Avenger, a superhero from a public-access TV show.
As the movie unfolds The Crimson Bolt becomes a media sensation. Frank/The Crimson Bolt has a vision in which he’s touched by the finger of God (Rob Zombie) and has been chosen by God to become a superhero. Yes, it sounds unhinged. And it is, in the very best of ways.
Related: Rob Zombie Goes Family Friendly as The Munsters Gets PG Rating

5 Rodney Dangerfield — Angels with Angles

The late comedy legend Rodney Dangerfield played God in 2005’s Angels with Angles. It was his last film role before he died on October 5, 2004 at the age of 82. Playing God is quite a step-up for the beloved comedian best known for his catchphrase “I don’t get no respect.” Angels with Angles also had actor Frank Gorshin playing another comedy legend who played God, George Burns. In the film, Dangerfield’s God sends George Burns on a mission to locate a man involved in smuggling Cuban cigars.

4 Whoopi Goldberg — A Little Bit of Heaven

Whoopi Goldberg has the distinction of being only one of just a few women to play God in a movie in 2011’s A Little Bit of Heaven. The rom com starred Kate Hudson as a carefree ad executive in New Orleans who enjoys casual sex with no commitments. After she learns she has terminal cancer, she is visited by God in heaven, who asks her to make three wishes. Over the course of the film those wishes are fulfilled and Marley comes to terms with dying just as she’s falling in love with her oncologist. Whoopi Goldberg is delightful and kind here.

3 Alanis Morissette — Dogma

About five years after Alanis Morissette exploded on the music scene with her album Jagged Little Pill, the Canadian songstress played God in Kevin Smith’s 1999 film Dogma. The film revolves around two angels who were ejected from heaven and ended up getting banned from the state of Wisconsin. They find a loophole in New Jersey that could get them reinstated in heaven. There’s only one problem — taking that option will destroy humanity.
Morissette’s God didn’t have any speaking lines in Dogma, but rather relied on facial expressions and eye contact to get her point across. Her role was little more than a cameo, but due to her enormous popularity at the time Dogma was released, her casting in this film is one of the most notable rock star cameos in film. Also, the idea of God being silent is one of the many theologically interesting themes of the film.
Related: Why Clerks 3 Needs to be More Mature than the First Two Films

2 George Burns — Oh God!, Oh God Book II, Oh God You Devil

The legendary comedian George Burns played God in three films — 1977’s Oh, God!, 1980’s Oh, God, Book II, and 1984’s Oh, God, You Devil. In each film, Burns’ God appears to a different ordinary human and tasks them with a mission to spread God’s word. In Oh God, You Devil Burns had the distinction of playing both God and the Devil. Burns had a legendary career. He first found fame on Vaudeville stages in the 1920s and 1930s with his wife Gracie Allen. By the time he got to play God, he was in his 80s and, frankly, the perfect choice for the role, both soft-spoken and sweet but filled with wisdom and a great sense of humor. George Burns died on March 9, 1996, at 100 years old.

1 Morgan Freeman – Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty

Morgan Freeman earned the top spot in our ranking of actors and actresses that have played in God because — well, to be honest, it was really close between Freeman and Burns, but there’s just something about Freeman’s portrayal of God in 2003’s Bruce Almighty and 2007’s Evan Almighty that is… Godly. In an interview with The Wrap in 2012, Freeman said, “It’s a hard question, because as I said at the start, I think we invented God. So if I believe in God, and I do, it’s because I think I’m God.” Additionally, Freeman also narrated the National Geographic documentary The Story of God, and the actor’s authoritative voice is a perfect fit for a divine being.

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