The table is being set for the fifth season of Dallas Jenkins' hit series 'The Chosen.' The historical drama's latest season, titled 'The Last Supper,' will capture the events of holy week and the final days of Jesus Christ, leading up to his crucifixion. Ahead of its theatrical run, the cast and Jenkins spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about filming their runaway hit and what they call their most intense season yet.
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00:00Your Bible has not changed since The Chosen was released.
00:04We're not adding to scripture because we're not scripture.
00:07My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you make it a den of thieves.
00:12The table is being set for the fifth season of Dallas Jenkins' hit series The Chosen.
00:17The historical drama's latest season, titled The Last Supper, will capture the events of Holy Week
00:23and the final days of Jesus Christ leading up to his crucifixion.
00:27Ahead of its theatrical run, the cast and Jenkins spoke to The Hollywood Reporter
00:31about filming their runaway hit and what they call their most intense season yet.
00:36When people watch The Chosen, they say, oh wow, these are not stained glass windows.
00:40These are not paintings. These are not statues. These are human beings.
00:43And that is resonating with people. They can put themselves into the story.
00:47They can connect with the people in a way that perhaps they haven't always been able to.
00:51Do you feel any pressure, their expectations, when it comes to portraying such a wholly renowned figure?
00:59And do you feel like people hold you to a higher standard at certain times?
01:03Early on, I felt there was a moment filming the middle of our first season where I felt overwhelmed
01:11because I suddenly became self-aware in the middle of filming a scene.
01:15I sort of paused our production for a moment to just pull our director Dallas aside and just say,
01:21can we just slow down? And he said, what's wrong?
01:23I said, I'm feeling like I'm not worthy to be saying these words.
01:27Like I just, I'm a bit overwhelmed.
01:29And he said, look, brother, none of us are worthy to be doing this and to be, you know,
01:36trying to control the magnitude of this story.
01:42But we're in this together so that more people may learn about this story.
01:47Growing up, you hear like women from the Bible and you think they're all saints and you think they're all very holy.
01:55She's struggling with alcohol addiction and suicidal ideation.
01:59And she's going through so, so much. And those are all very modern and relatable to many experiences.
02:09And so I was most surprised by the way these first century characters are brought into today's society and we can we can see ourselves in them.
02:22Elsewhere, the series has come under some scrutiny for not always being biblically accurate.
02:27Yeah, well, we occasionally get criticism by some people who just don't believe that it's OK to ever portray anything that isn't directly from Scripture.
02:36And so because Christians believe that the Bible is perfect and it's God's word,
02:41and I happen to believe that myself, that when you're portraying something that's from the Bible,
02:47if you add anything that isn't directly from Scripture, then now you are messing with sacred God's word. Right.
02:55Now, I'm someone who happens to believe in the Bible and believe that it's God's word.
02:58I also happen to know that my show is not the Bible.
03:02Your Bible has not changed since The Chosen was released.
03:06We are not adding to Scripture because we're not Scripture.
03:10We are a television show that uses the Bible as our primary source of truth and inspiration.
03:16But we also use historical context, cultural context, and yes, some human imagination, some artistic imagination.
03:23And so I'm not too worried about the criticism as long as I believe that what I'm doing does not contradict the character or intentions of Jesus in the Gospels.
03:33With such a loyal audience for the series, the cast also discussed their most touching and memorable fan interactions.
03:40I had a supporter come tell me in Portuguese, you know, thank you for giving a term autism to the way you play Matthew, loosely paraphrasing what she said.
03:51But basically, it was that they didn't even know that there was a term for autism.
03:55They didn't know the word. They just knew the behavior.
03:57So they're learning from the show about that and learning how to, you know, learning through Matthew's journey and how he communicates and passing it on to how they communicate to their loved ones.
04:07So that was like a very touching memory.
04:10Every reaction is different, completely unique and completely different than the other.
04:15You know what I mean? I feel it touches people in such different ways that it never repeats itself.
04:22I heard you've gotten marriage proposals. People have asked if you could officiate their wedding. I mean, some wild interactions there.
04:30The craziest one was finding out that a woman in Brazil had named her child after myself and Dallas.
04:41Jonathan Dallas was simply the baby's first and middle name.
04:45So I'm looking forward to meeting my namesake child somewhere in Brazil at some point. I think that'll be pretty wild.
04:54Absolutely season six, a walk-on cameo with Jonathan Dallas. Make it happen.
05:00Listen, I think we might be able to ask around. I think we might be able to find this person.
05:05To you, scribes and Pharisees.
05:09The world is changing and Jesus offers a vision to redeem it.
05:17The chosen The Last Supper part one is out now in select theaters.
05:21For more on this story, head to THR.com.
05:24And for the latest entertainment news and updates, keep watching The Hollywood Reporter News.