Peter O’Toole does not appear in “Innocence of Muslims.” I’m 72% certain.

So the actors who appear in that film on the life of Muhammad that makes him out to be, shall we say, less than prophet material, and which supposedly set off riots and violence across the Islamic world Tuesday but that was apparently just a pretext, insist they were “grossly misled,” emphasis on gross:

“The entire cast and crew are extremely upset and feel taken advantage of by the producer,” they said in a statement to CNN about the movie, “Innocence of Muslims.”

“We are 100% not behind this film and were grossly misled about its intent and purpose,” continued the statement, which was sent to CNN by a member of the production staff who asked not to be identified for security reasons. “We are shocked by the drastic rewrites of the script and lies that were told to all involved. We are deeply saddened by the tragedies that have occurred.”

Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed Tuesday in Libya amid a regional furor over the film, which mocks Islam’s prophet.

So what did they think they were making? Lion of the Desert: The Muslims Strike Back?

A casting call published in July 2011 in Backstage magazine and in other publications for actors identifies the working title of the movie as “Desert Warrior” and describes it as a “historical Arabian Desert adventure film.”

And at what point did you realize you were involved in something that made the signal personage of Islam out to be little more than a savage and a pervert?

An actress in the film who asked not to be identified said the original script did not include a Prophet Muhammed character. She added that she and other actors complained that their lines had been changed.

The actress said she spoke Wednesday with the producer, who is identified in the advertisement as Sam Bassiel. “He said he wrote the script because he wants the Muslims to quit killing,” she said. “I had no idea he was doing all this.” …

The actress said the character of Muhammed in the movie was identified as George when it was shot, and that she returned afterward and read other lines that may have been dubbed into the piece.

Well, everyone knows “George” is code for … not Paul, John, or Ringo.

So who was behind this “masterwork” of historiography?

The Wall Street Journal identified the filmmaker as Sam Bacile, an Israeli-American real estate developer. The Journal reported that, in its telephone interview with Bacile, he characterized his film as “a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam.”

“Islam is a cancer,” he told the newspaper. “The movie is a political movie. It’s not a religious movie.”

Sam Bacile? Really? And who was the cinematographer? Phil MacCavity?

Next time you answer an ad to be in a movie that takes place “in the desert,” keep one word in mind. Not “Libya” or “riots” or “that freaking idiot Terry Jones,” but Ishtar.

BREAKING: Now we’re told that the film may not even exist! Oh, if only that were true for Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D.