‘The Chosen’ Creator Shares TV Inspirations of ‘Actual Humanity’ From the Faith-Based Hit
Preview
[This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike authorization.]
Talk about a 21st-century miracle. The faith-based series has converted a mass of impassioned viewers to rival any Yellowstone or The Walking Dead fanbase — without marquee stars or aggressive marketing. We’re of course talking about The Chosen, the first multi-season series to depict the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth (played by Jonathan Roumie) and his most fervent followers. The show’s first three seasons have been available for free via the Chosen app and the Angel Studios website, as well as on streamers like Netflix and Prime Video, but you can now watch the series’ broadcast debut on The CW as it airs 24 divine weekly episodes from Sunday, July 16, through Christmas Eve.
“Over 100 million people have seen at least one episode,” creator Dallas Jenkins tells us after a busy day shooting a Season 4 episode in Goshen, Utah. (The series also films outside Dallas.) But he’s grateful for the boost of being on network television, noting that it helps the show “cross the chasm into audiences that have heard about it but haven’t known where to watch it.”
Elizabeth Tabish in The Chosen
The tale of how The Chosen came into existence is nearly as compelling as the greatest story ever told. “It was born out of failure,” Jenkins says with a laugh. After a feature film he directed didn’t do well, he dusted off a short film script about Christ’s birth from the perspective of the shepherds. The video went viral and, though Jenkins didn’t love the idea of crowdfunding to make a series, he had nothing to lose. At the end of the video, he gave viewers the opportunity to invest (not donate, he specifies), “and over 16,000 people around the world invested over $10 million for [what became] Season 1.” From there, he adds, “the word of mouth went crazy.”
The Chosen begins in 1st century Galilee with adult Jesus and introduces familiar Bible figures like the compassionate Mary Magdalene (Elizabeth Tabish), unsure tax collector Matthew (Paras Patel) and bold fishermen brothers Simon Peter (Shahar Isaac) and Andrew (Noah James), depicting how they become the Son of God’s loyal followers. In the first episode, for example, a distraught Mary Magdelene, using the name Lilith, fights personal demons and contemplates ending her life until she meets Jesus, who somehow knows her real name. “I was one way and now I am completely different,” she calmly tells curious religious leader Nicodemus (Erick Avari) in the second episode (July 23). “And the thing that happened in between was Him.”
In adapting stories like that, Jenkins knew merely retelling Scripture wouldn’t give it the “uniquely timely” perspective he was hoping to achieve so that it “doesn’t feel like a stiff melodrama. It feels like actual humanity.” He found inspiration not in other religious productions, but in long-running contemporary dramas that created an intimacy between characters and viewers over many episodes. (Seven seasons are planned for The Chosen.) “I’m not only a lover of the Bible, but I’m also a lover of television,” Jenkins notes. “I’m watching Succession at the same time that I’m writing the show. I’m watching Friday Night Lights, This Is Us. You look at these shows and you realize the time they take to build these characterizations, that’s their secret sauce. They don’t rush it.”
Filling the pivotal role of Jesus was thankfully not a problem — Roumie had worked with Jenkins before in shorts done for his church. But strapping on the sandals is a big responsibility. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around playing Jesus,” the actor admits. “There’s so much depth and layers and mystery to him.” But Jenkins has faith, noting that “casting Jonathan was the easiest decision in the world.”
The Chosen, Sundays, 8/7c, The CW
This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s The Chosen cover story. For more inside scoop on what’s coming to TV and streaming in the weeks ahead, pick up the issue, on newsstands Thursday, July 20.
The Chosen where to stream
