# Plot Delas #16: John the Baptist and faith without ego, with Rodolfo Valente > In Plot Delas #16, actor Rodolfo Valente, John the Baptist in Ben-Hur, A Série, talks about faith, courage, the absence of ego and what happened behind the scenes. URL: https://blog.univervideo.com/plot-delas-joao-batista-rodolfo-valente?lang=en Idioma: en Publicado em: 2026-11-11 Autor: Editorial team Categoria: Behind the scenes What makes someone's faith so firm that it needs no applause? That is the thread of episode 16 of Plot Delas, the Univer Vídeo podcast, which aired on Sunday, November 8. The hosts welcome actor Rodolfo Valente, who plays John the Baptist in [Ben-Hur, A Série](https://www.univervideo.com/series/ben-hur-the-series), to talk about the character and what he teaches. The full video is further below. ## A man without ego and without fear Rodolfo says he thought he knew John the Baptist, until he started studying for the role and realized he knew very little. What struck him most was an "almost superhuman" faith that never wavers, and a complete absence of ego. When people ask whether he is the Messiah or a prophet, John answers that he is only "the voice of one crying in the wilderness". Throughout the conversation, the character is seen from several angles: - **Firm before the powerful.** John confronts the false religious leaders and bows to no one, but he takes nothing personally. He says what he has to say and moves on. - **Brave, but eager to help.** With Antipas, he does not fear the tetrarch and, at the same time, truly wants him to make things right with God. In the cell, he warns him that he is fixing the outside but not the inside. - **Compassionate even toward those who persecute him.** After being arrested and dragged away by Messala, John looks at him and sees his pain. - **Happy with simple things.** He sleeps under the stars, eats little and lets nothing pull him away from his mission. For the hosts, whoever keeps their eyes on the things above can be happy with little. ## Repentance, justice and God's timing The hosts recall that, at the time, religiosity presented God as a burden of rules and demands, and people drifted away. John's message was simple: repent. That is why so many sincere people went to find him at the Jordan River. And that invitation still stands today in baptism by water, for anyone who wants to start over. The conversation also connects John to Judah. Judah seeks justice through the strength of his own arm. In the scene where John asks Jesus why He has not yet started His ministry, however, the answer is that there is a time for everything. For God's word to take effect, the heart cannot be ruled by the desire to do justice its own way. Finally, the episode talks about a common fear: the fear of death. John the Baptist did not have it, because he did not overvalue this life. A person who has God can go through a chaotic moment on the outside and still have peace on the inside. ## Behind the scenes - The Jordan River scenes were filmed in Serra do Cipó, in Minas Gerais, in June. The water was very cold, but Rodolfo says he did not feel cold during the takes. - The hardest scene, and the most beautiful one for him, was the campfire scene, where John hears the voice of God. It was the only one he filmed alone, without other actors. - In the scenes with Jesus, Petrônio Gontijo's face is not shown. According to Rodolfo, this requires care from the camera team, but it does not change the relationship between them on screen. - For his audition, he filmed the campfire scene at home, with his wife reading the voice of God. The next day, he was approved. - A curious detail: in building the character, the "locusts" John eats are treated as carob, a fruit of the desert. Rodolfo notes that this reading is not a consensus. ## The lines that stayed with us Some lines from the episode, with the minute when they appear: > "He has a complete absence of ego. He knows his role." (Rodolfo Valente, 5 min) > "He does the right thing to do in a conflict, which is to go to the One who has the answer to all things." (10 min) > "I must decrease so that Jesus can increase, so that Jesus can be seen." (22 min) > "What is great is not the people God uses, it is God in the person." (31 min) > "You want change, you want forgiveness, but are you willing to change? Are you willing to forgive?" (Rodolfo Valente, 45 min) > "A person who has God has peace. What happens in the world affects their outside, but inside they have peace." (63 min) ## Watch the full episode Set aside an hour, grab a coffee and press play: [Plot Delas, episode 16: hearing this hurts, but it transforms](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTP-oTvm9oU) Prefer to watch on streaming? Plot Delas is one of Univer Vídeo's free titles: create a free account and open [the podcast page](https://www.univervideo.com/series/plot-delas), with every episode of the season. ## What the audience is saying > "John the Baptist is an example of living to do God's will, of being used by God without reservation, with faith, courage and boldness." > "I am loving it and learning a lot watching the Ben-Hur series. By the end of this series, may we practice and evaluate ourselves spiritually." > "In every story in the Bible you can see today's world: the fight for power, always wanting more, the fight for status. In all that, people lose sight of others." If you watched it, leave your comment on YouTube and tell us which John the Baptist scene spoke to you most. ## So you don't miss a thing New Plot Delas episodes arrive every Sunday at 5 p.m. (Brazil time) on the [Univer Vídeo YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@univervideooficial) and in the Univer Vídeo catalog. To follow John the Baptist, Judah, Messala and Antipas, watch [Ben-Hur, A Série](https://www.univervideo.com/series/ben-hur-the-series), exclusively on Univer Vídeo, and [see the available plans](https://www.univervideo.com/subscribe). Content that does you good.