"I suppose it's natural, so many people in America have so much investment in Christianity and so much investment in the Bible, they're not all going to agree with each other," he said. "That's been an interesting observation for an Australian sitting here in Los Angeles observing it for the first time."
In the film, Noble plays Prince Admatha, a powerful prince in the court of a weak king who plots to put himself on the throne, but is ultimately undone by Haman, an Amelekite who twists Admatha's trust and uses it for his own advancement.
It's a dark role, something Noble is familiar with. He's probably best known for his performance as Denethor, the mad steward of Gondor and father of Faramir and Boromir in "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."
"These sorts of powerful characters are always very interesting to play because they're complex," Noble said. "By our standards, they come out of the dark side more than the light. Like a lot of politicians, I'm afraid, they may have good intentions, but at the end of the day they manipulate what they will to get what they want."
Though some actors might shy away from taking on villainous roles, Noble thinks it offers a freedom to explore places that he would never dream of going in real life.
"The reality is that everyone's got a dark side and most of us live in denial of it," he said. "I know some people are quite scared of it and don't want to go there, but I've always felt it was in interesting challenge and a personal exploration as much as anything else."
In "One Night with the King," Noble also finds himself working beside bona fide film legends like Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole. He relishes the chance to work with some of the best in the business, but once on the set, admiration has to be put aside, he said.
"I had the same thing to a degree when I did some scenes with Sir Ian McKellen," he said. "I knew and admired his work for a long time, and to actually get on stage with him was terrific. But you can't say 'oh, my goodness me, I'm working with a legend here.' You take the opportunity of riding with the best of them."
Noble certainly knows about being among the best with his role in the phenomenon that was "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Even though he's aware that no matter what he does, he'll be remembered for the role of Denethor, he had no second thoughts about jumping at the chance.
"All of the people involved in 'The Lord of the Rings' were very fortunate people," he said. "In a lifetime, you may get one or two defining roles as a character actor. That was certainly a defining role in arguably the greatest film of all time. It's a bit surreal actually to have been involved in that in some ways."
Though he knew the potential of the films going in, he said there was no way to be prepared for what the movies turned into.
"I knew how good it was," Noble said. "I knew by the standard of everything that was happening how good it was. I knew that there were many, many people around the world that were Tolkien fans. I was conscious, because I wasn't involved in the first film at all, but I saw the reaction around the world and the incredible amount of chatter on the Internet. It became a worldwide phenomenon before it opened. In terms of what it finished up being, 11 Academy Awards and all those things, I don't think you can predict that to be honest. I think it's beyond dreaming."
Noble also has a lot of excitement about his next project, "Risen," which tells the story of boxer Howard Winstone.
"He was a young boy from the Welsh mining valleys who had four of his fingers cut off when he was 16, but went on to box and become world champion," he said. "It's a pretty inspiring story."
