Inside the Vatican and the real-life drama behind "Conclave"

In last year's Oscar-winning film "Conclave," as cardinals played by John Lithgow and Ralph Fiennes confront the body of a dead pope, the process of electing his successor is set in motion.

The actual conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis will begin on Wednesday, but since his death on April 21, huge numbers of U.S. viewers have been streaming the film – around 15,000 the day before he died, 3 million since then.

So, we decided to revisit the time we spent with Fiennes in Rome and then in New York City when the film came out last fall.