copies worldwide. Music video Conception and filming The highly controversial music video for "Like a Prayer" was directed by Mary Lambert and was shot in January 1989 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California, and at San Pedro Hills in San Pedro, California. Madonna wanted the video to be more provocative than anything she had done before. She wanted to address racism by having the video depict a mixed-race couple being shot by the Ku Klux Klan. But on further thinking she finalized on another provocative theme to keep with the song's religious connotations. The singer would play the song over and over again and wanted the visuals to display, Lambert had a different visual aspect of the song on her mind. She felt that it was more about ecstasy, especially a sexual one, and how it related to religious ecstasy. She listened to the song with Madonna a number of times and together decided to include the ecstasy part. A sub-plot about Madonna as a homicide witness was included, which became the trigger for the sexual and religious ecstasy. Actor Leon Robinson was hired to play the role of a saint; the part was inspired by Martin de Porres, the patron saint of mixed-race people and all those seeking interracial harmony. The video was shot over four days, with an extra day allotted for re-shooting some of the scenes. Originally Lambert had casts taken of Robinson's face, hand and feet to create the statue of the saint which would be used as a decoration. The actor only enacted the live scenes. However during post-production, Lambert found that the statue did not look like Robinson, who was asked to re-shoot the respective scenes. He had to act as the statue and required special make-up for the retakes. The actor recalled that standing like a statue was difficult since "first of all, I didn't realize how hard it is on the back to stand absolutely tall and straight and not move. Secondly, as a performer you have this nervous energy—and my requirements here were total antithesis of that." Throughout the video, Madonna wears a cleavage-baring slip dress as outerwear, then seen as a provocative choice. The piece was chosen by costume designer Marlene Stewart for its atypical structure, as the dress was made for actress Natalie Wood to be worn under a costume. Synopsis The video begins with Madonna witnessing a young