Elijah Alexander on Atticus, The Chosen Season 4, & the Enduring Value of Biblical Stories

welcome my name is Kevin and this is the Bible artist podcast I believe the Arts can give us fresh eyes to see the significance of the Bible and the beauty of the Gospel I also believe the Bible can provide the Arts with complex characters and stories with profound insight into the human condition I've been a fan of Bible art for most of my life and so over the past few years I've been exploring popular bible adaptations and I've been encouraging Christian communities to discuss and engage with the Arts today my guest is Alexander but I want to warn you before the conversation there were some connection issues so it may get choppy at certain points I'm doing my best to clean up in editing but I just wanted to give you that Advan notice Elijah Alexander is my guest today uh you probably know him best from the chosen in which he plays attakus amelus a Roman investigator who becomes interested in the ministry of Jesus and his disciples but Elijah has been in a variety of other things uh stage Productions TV shows video games h hwood Blockbusters like Mr and Mrs Smith um so Elijah before we get into the chosen I'm just interested how you got uh into acting andh what kind of draws you to acting thank you Kevin it's great to be here great to be a part of your um Vision I I I like you truly believe that art reflects the best of uh the source material and it is is the reason I became you know my fascination with art and actually my fascination with the Bible to begin with in Hebrew school growing up um really and and the Greeks and my uh introduction to Shakespeare so it was through it was through a combination of the source material of the Bible the Old Testament and the Arts that created a a a strong desire in me to be an art become an artist um so that seed was planted at a very very early age for me um not because of my exposure to theater but as I said because of my uh my exposure to poetry at an early age through school and in in Hebrew school my exposure to the Bible and and storytelling and so and so it became um um the strongest desire in me to be to to become a Storyteller because I was so moved and literally transformed um through the stories that I was told in in in school and so I uh at a very very early age was drawn to through Humanities and through Crea ative writing and through poetry I was introduced to the greats you know to the the great Greek stoics um I mean we're talking you know in my teens you know in high school um but that's that's where it all began for me and and so it's been a a lifelong career long journey for me um to to develop my artistic spirit so you're very like kind of familiar with a lot of kind of the The Source material and like a lot of not just the biblical Source material but kind of the larger cultural Matrix of kind of the ancient world yes yes yes yes I I mean look they say that um all pass art alone endures right so so this is this is one of the the mantras I use um and I was touched at a very early age to become compelled to become an artist but it was again forgive me for repeating myself but it was because of my introduction to the humanities to to Art to art history to visual art to performing art and to the and to the source material so I I was a um I studied they say that all stories all contemporary stories come from one of three sources right you have the Bible you have the Greeks and you have Shakespeare Shakespeare took all of his you know as his Source material um avid's uh uh not Avid but um petrarch's petrarch's lives right so he took a lot of his uh ideas from history right and he also Drew from the Bible and he also Drew from the Greeks so because they obviously both of those both of those um uh bodies of work preceded him preceded his so they say that all stories emanate or or the Genesis of all contemporary stories you know from TV shows to soap operas to film to plays have their Beginnings in one of those three from one of those three sources and so I I've studied in depth um you know I've spent 28 years doing Shakespeare's you know works I was classically trained got a master's of Fine Arts and acting from the Yale School of drama and I I've spent the last almost 30 years working in theater TV film mostly theater um all over this country in the regions on Broadway uh also overseas in London so I have a I have a great deal of experience with um Shakespeare in particular um and and his classic classical contemporaries all and in the last few years I've been um given a great honor and privilege to be a part of the chosen family and that's just taken my work in a whole new trajectory but I moved to I moved to Hollywood in 2004 with seems like a lifetime AG it really is a lifetime ago uh from New York and did my first major motion picture I did Mr and Mrs Smith and then I I was based in LA and it all it all sort of my my film and TV Works sort of took off from there oh that's really cool The Chosen isn't like your first uh film that's based on a biblical story I saw in your filmography uh amazing love which looks like it's it's based on the story of Hosea yeah you're absolutely right Kevin so yeah so so when I was in Hebrew school that really is the where the seed was planted i i i in learning about Moses I wanted to be Moses you know I wanted to be play these um prophets um and and you know inhabit their spirit and tell their stories I mean it was that was my introduction to drama you know was through as I said Through the Bible and so it was a it was such a full circle sort of fulfillment when I got to play in 2011 I got to play Hosea in um in a in a movie called amazing love and I got to go back to my father's Homeland Israel to shoot the film so it was a big deal I have you know uh I have a a great deal of family in Israel and so so we were um it was just such an amazing monu important um event for me to go back to my father's Homeland with a creative project be able to work there we we shot the whole thing in Nazareth um and so I got to and I'm you know walking in the sandals of uh a minor Prophet from the Old Testament Hosea um and it's a beautiful story an amazing message and um yeah that actually that started my um that was that was sort of my entrance into the the biblical uh dramatic World um that was produced by Trinity Broadcasting um and and a lot of the actually the director on that film recommended me to Dallas for the chosen so I mean it was a it was a the way that all aligned was kind of was kind of miraculous but it had been sort of in the works for for more than a decade oh yeah no that that does sound like a amazing experience um yeah just getting to kind of spend that time really kind of fulfilling that childhood dream of of stepping into the shoes of of one of the prophets as far as the chosen goes um so another kind of uh bible-based uh story you know New Testament this time um where you know it's mostly focused on you know stories about Jesus and the disciples um but it also introduces fictional story lines and characters but even though attakus is made up his position the cohortes Orban that was a real thing um what's your kind of understanding of of what that position was all about so yeah so um the cohortes urban were uh part of an elite sort of task force um uh who answered directly to the emperor so um they had usually had military backgrounds and were well-versed and and well educated um but basically they're they're a you know they're an ancient um the the ancient CIA you know would be the the sort of the direct line in terms of contemporary they were part of a they were detectives they were part of an elite detective task force and um they did the Emperor's work and so um yes the the title was is historically accurate but the character is not so the character is probably based on um I mean it's obviously a fictional character but based on characters who actually could have and did walk the earth and and um and fulfill these roles so and as an actor it's a it's a a dream because I'm not beholden to to um literal translation right so I'm not it you know taken from scripture attacus is is uh born of the imagination of the writers and then um in my hands you know I get to use my imag imagination too and to create uh a fully fleshed uh complicated character so it's it's an it really is an actor's dream and you know attakus is because of his role he's a naturally he has to be a naturally curious um Observer uh and he's got a so he's you know very sensually aware um he's a uh uh his job is is mainly relation relational or you know based on developing relationships to get information so he's got his fingers on the pulse of what's Happening he's out there in the field he's a field specialist right so he's talking to people gathering information gathering Intel and using his influence uh to sway opinion to um to further the agenda of the Empire yeah so uh it's been a it's been an absolute dream it's a it's a I've always been fascinated yeah I mean I've always been fascinated with um that world and so it's also a kind of a dream to play a detective to play uh um because I've always been drawn to the to those stories as well in in film in particular and the world of undercover um uh spies and the Intrigue and the Mystery involved and the the danger it's always been very uh exciting to me so to be able to play the ancient you know 40 ad version of a spy or a detective is is actually really really thrilling for me and uh uh really exciting and and the fact that I'm a part of this Monumental pro project that is changing so many lives and influencing so many lives um is is just my deepest and greatest honor yeah so you were talking earlier about kind of the the complexities of uh your character and uh one of the things that I liked about season 3 is we kind of started to see a little bit more of of those uh things coming to the surface so you know we see um he doesn't uh Rat out Simon z uh or like kind of continue to try to get him he actually warns him about the zealots that are after him uh he he keeps quintis from wiping out the Tent City he kind of uses some of his uh relational wisdom with that uh he kind of minimizes is the the danger of Jesus when he's recording to pilate uh so as the show continues are we going to get to see a little bit more of kind of what's motivating your character and maybe either backstory or just um kind of what he's he's after I guess great question and great insight and yeah that's one of the the most exciting uh pieces of this car of the character Dev velopment for me is that there he's not a straightforward guy I mean attacus is an instrument of the Empire right but he at at his Baseline um his MO is creating the conditions for peace he's a peacemaker right he's not a um in this isn't and this isn't in the in the um in the uh the EP it's in in the storytelling as we're doing it but part of my backstory you know I feel like attakus has a military background he's SE been in you know he's fought in battles in Wars he's seen Bloodshed he's seen violence he's dealt with it and he now he's more of a diplomat so he's really uh out there to create like I said to create the conditions for peace he wants to avoid civil unrest Civil War he wants to to appease all the factions the religious the Sanhedrin the relig the Jewish religious faction he wants to to um contain what what he sees as uh a potentially threatening uh um organization right these these these followers of this peaceful prophet has a amassed in number right they're they're they're growing in number and so he he's just concerned attakus is concerned about uh the potential for that for an uprising for civil war but ultimately he's he's not looking to I mean the zealots the Zealot faction are a violent faction so we see in in season 2 his response to that you know he's trying to avoid an assassin ation of one of of one of his senators of one of his um of one of the Roman magistrates right so but in doing so he has created a sort of a reluctant alliance with Simon z uh because they he attakus realizes they have a common goal right they have a common enemy in the zel um so anyway ultimately ultimately adus wants to further the glory of the realm of the empire of Rome yes but he wants to create uh the conditions for peace and Harmony in the streets otherwise you know the alternative is is just um unappealing to everybody you know from the top down so he uses his his wisdom and his experience to and through his you know relationships building relationships um to he definitely has an agenda but it's more of a diplomatic peaceful one so yeah no that is that is really like a a fun role I'm sure as an actor to be kind of doing kind of some of that subtle work um in building relationships and trying to kind of Juggle different alliances and things like that one of the places that I I saw that um really show up it was in season 3 where we get to see add's relationship with pilot so I'm curious kind of how you would describe that relationship and some of the Dynamics uh there it's interesting I'm I'm learning a lot about um you know when you're working on certain personal development and uh looking to master uh a particular skill or a particular uh uh trade or you know they all the all the the great say study find a teacher then find a a partner someone who you can practice with find a teachers that you can study under Apprentice with who knows more than you do and who has mastered something you want to master then find a sparring partner right someone you you can practice with and then find someone to teach find a student and so I approach I I bring that up because that's a part of how I approach my life and my the the craft and the skill of acting that's how I've always approached it and when I want to learn something new when I want to master something um and that's an ongoing process of course but I also apply that to the roles I take up and so attakus is prime example I mean he's he's you know in a in a place where he's studied under the best you know in in my in my imagination when I'm creating his backstory studied with the best I mean you know think of Marcus arelius Marcus Aurelius is one of my personal Heroes and a lot of his contemporaries you know the the stoics epicus and um Aristotle and Sena so these guys way ahead of their time and Marcus Aus in particular you know a great emperor great leader but a virtuous lived a vir ous morally morally um morally correct or morally righteous life and he aspired um toward virtue virtue as the greatest um uh Target the greatest goal of Life the the the the meaning of life and so anyway I'm forgive me for being longwinded but but attakus has had his teachers he's put put all of this into practice practice and now he finds certain um certain characters certain people that are uh his students and pilot I'm not going to call Pilot a student but attakus takes on the role of Mentor with pilot uh advisor counselor and so and so I mean it it's it's just an amazing opportunity again to play a different to wear a different hat in a different relationship you know he has a different relationship uh with Jesus I mean and we're seeing a relationship built you know it's mostly uh from what I hear and what I witness um because I haven't had a lot of adus hasn't a lot had a lot of face-to-face time with Jesus but um I've certainly met met with a lot of the and you know uh communed with a lot of the Jewish religious Authority M um uh a few of the disciples there have been small interactions I've gathered a lot of information so there's there is um material that's starting to build a relationship right with pilot here's an inexperienced young governor who's plays as we all know plays a very instrumental role in the life of Jesus in the you know um a governmental role um and he he comes to adus for for support for help for for U for advice so we're going to see more of that we're going to see more of that and and it's um in terms of adus as Mentor advisor counselor uh a father figure I mean that's just there naturally with the age difference um uh adus is someone pilot admires and respects and uh listens to so I've got I've got I've got his attention I've got his ear and I've got his open heart so so it's uh you know there's that's why it's so like and I love working with with the the actor he's such a terrific terrific uh young man um and we have a a natural Rapport which just helps with you know telling telling that story yeah yeah so it's it's it's going to be it's going to get even more um personal and uh intimate in terms of and deeper in terms of that relationship yeah as as Jesus you know runs a foul of of Rome or you know and Pilots put into the position of having to judge uh Jesus that may be a complicated uh or challenging moment for for adus as well because of that relationship yeah yeah yeah yeah it's uh and you know we see look attakus is a attakus is a human being and he's been um moved let's just say by what he's seeing what is happening what he's witnessed and so um it it just sets the stage for uh you know when the when the stakes become more intense um and everyone is in crisis mode when it get when when when decisions have to be made we have enough uh um we have we have enough knowledge of these characters to understand that it costs everybody you know it costs those people who are involved look pilot pilot is someone who's also very interested and very um curious about what's happening he takes a particular interest in the Jewish culture you know in in the culture that I mean he's the Romans are occupying right occupying this land they're they're they're um uh colonialists right they're colonizing um that's what they did so they're so but but both pilot and but both pilot and attacus have taken particular interest I mean it's like that you know the the old adage you know in order to and I'm not even con considering them an enemy than the enemy because they're not but they are under our rule right under Roman rule and so they're and if you want to look at it technically they are the they are the they're colonized yeah so but in order to rule in order to rule appropriately and justly in in the from the perspective of the Roman Empire you have to you have to um get to a deep understanding of how these people think how they work what's important to them right and so so both pilot and atus have have an intimate deep uh or are developing a deep understanding of of the culture of the people in in order to to create I mean I think I think ultimately pilot wants the same thing you know pilot wants peace as well he doesn't want I mean he's governing he's a governor he wants to keep his position right and if he's got if he's got a if he's overseeing a Civil War the emperor is going to replace him because that's not what the emperor wants the emperor wants peaceful colonies right as as they move through the world you know the Sun at this time the Sun never set on the Roman Empire yeah I I really have enjoyed kind of just getting your insight into kind of the mindset and uh the backstory of of where um yeah where attakus is coming from uh looking forward I'm just curious is there anything that you're really excited for either in season 4 or just beyond I mean you've already kind of mentioned a little bit but anything else that you're looking forward to with your character I'm looking forward to it all as as you know as an actor you know we get we get the the scripts a season at a time you know the the creators of this show have have a long you know wide long-term vision and they've had a trajectory of how this will unfold and be told through seven seasons but as actors we don't we don't we're not we're not privy to that information from the get-go so we we get our storyline season by season and um I can tell you that so I know very little actually actually um we don't we're not a part of those conversations so I can I can speculate myself um and I have done done my part in terms of what I'm given collaborating with the writers collaborating with Dallas as director and writer and Creator I I do my part in bringing my own you know uh interpret interpretive skill to the character But ultimately I don't know the future I don't know necessarily where I'm going um but I do know I do know a little bit about where the chosen is going I mean we all know how it ends or or how it how it begins um right um because there are several Beginnings uh in in uh you know the story of Christ and um and the story that we're all telling um but I will tell you that each season like season 4 takes it is really Next Level it really in terms of not only in terms of the production production values um the the stakes as as in The Greatest Story Ever Told right the stakes get higher as we get closer to the inevitable but one of the many things this series does so well is it it really does chronologically create higher and greater Stakes become more intensified uh become and that's part of what Jesus was dealing with right I mean he was dealing with this culmination of attrition and Challenge and difficulty um as he was launched into the inevitable and so season 4 really takes it it's mindblowing I mean we just we were just at the premiere last week U and so we were in LA and we we saw the first two episodes and it's astounding it's astounding um it just really takes it to a whole new you just feel the tension building towards something and the story the storytelling is so so detailed and so specific moment moment to moment I mean re really uh brilliantly done by the creators and the con conceiver because because they had that long seven season Vision they were able to plant seeds in each scene in each character's Journey um I mean I'm I'm still bewildered and amazed at how they did it but it's it's so specific and so subtle and so well-crafted that you really feel like you're present with uh and Fe viscerally feeling um that Mo forward momentum that toward I I I just love that word inevitable the inevitability of things um and yet and yet it's so surprising because you you you think I mean honestly people you're wondering even me as someone involved in in the middle of it I'm thinking to myself maybe it turns out differently you know maybe maybe Christ isn't crucified maybe it's going to turn out differently and then you then you're brought back to the story you know I think part of that is because you've become so invested in Jesus as the man right so invested in in him as a human being it's so relatable it's so that you that you feel like oh maybe he's going to you know and and he's surrounded by human beings you know even those that are the sort of the most limited and narrow in their Vision you know I bring up you think of quintis right he's he's very um narrow myopic in his thinking uh very self-serving he's con concerned mostly about keeping his job right um um about his own Survival but even kinus is a wonderfully fleshed out human being and so you you think you think to yourself oh look at these look at this you know you've got all these people being in curious and intrig intrigued and and moved by this peaceful preacher by this Prophet even um Shmo um Shmo Shmo you know the Rabbi uh he's he's starting to think about oh you know the the the power of this peaceful preacher right the and the humanity and the and the sense the the the sense that he make I mean the the the he's a he's a charismatic leader he's so you so you think I bring that up because you're thinking about like his audience member oh my goodness and we know how the story unfolds right but you're thinking oh maybe it could turn out differently look at this look at how all of these human beings surrounding this you know look at how they're being moved and touched and how they're questioning you know so oh so maybe it will and I think that's the power of the storytelling and the the movie making you know the the filming the the is that it's it's creating possibility you know as you're watching it unfold we all know the stories we know these stories they're taken directly from scripture I mean the in between moments are filled out you know are filled out and a lot comes from the imagination that has to because we don't know you know the the momentto moment goings on uh of of those relationships how they unfolded you know the conversations they had we know about what was documented by the gospels right right but what this does so well and I think why so many people are moved by it is that it really is unfolding moment to moment it keeps us present it keeps us involved it keeps us always uh dwelling in possibility what if what if it could be different you know um I mean because of that there's a moment of hope there's a moment of such hope right and and then given that to know where it to know where it ends or again where it begins again begins a new is just it's it makes it an exciting exhilarating surprising ride for everybody and and also for I got to say for us us who are involved I'll speak for myself but for me involved it's exciting to know where it's going moment to moment and it's good it's good that I don't know in in a lot of ways because because you know I can see seen by scene what what um where I fit in as adus where I fit into the telling of the story and the function and the role I play um but within that uh there's a lot of room for my own surprise and uh uh excitement and I think that's what makes it I anyway I could go on and on and on about this but I think that's what makes it such an exciting first ever once in a lifetime experience an event this this this uh this uh more than production this phenomenon of the chosen um but I think at the heart of it it's it's great compelling storytelling and it and I think one of the reasons it is so it is that is because it dwells in possibilities it keeps creates space for anything to happen given a story we all know we know the beginning middle and end and yet yet people are tuning in across the world and it's because of it's because of that to to hear a story to watch a story unfold that they all know they've been told they've been they've studed in Bible School they've heard in you know on Sunday mornings they've studied in Bible in in in in groups you know and yet they're tuning in I mean close to 800 million worldwide viewers I mean why would they tune in to hear a story that they know already um I think what I described as part of the reason why and it makes it very exciting for all of us I mean we really are it's a chosen family it really are the The Spectators the viewers you Kevin you know who are you know just engaged in in in not only your viewership but also what you doing what you do is you know you're you're a part of the extended family here and it's it's part of a part of a movement that has at the core of it um a deep a deep hope a deep hope and possibility for not only this you know this telling of the of the seven seasons of The Chosen but for the future for the future so so I think that's part of the attraction and appeal of this and uh I'm really excited to see see where it goes we're we're expecting I guess within the next month to get the scripts for season five and so that's always an exciting time for the cast um so we'll we'll see where it's going you know next season and uh uh yeah it's really exciting um to dwell to dwell in possibility so wow that's an amazing going on I'm sure you you no I that that was like just really uh psyched me up for for season 4 uh it sounds like it's going to be just amazing so uh thank you so much for kind of that note of of Hope for not just the show but for you know what it is bringing to people um yeah um I know you got to go soon I was just going to ask um yeah any kind of last thoughts either on the show or other things that you're working on that you want to share about um yeah I just want to provide uh some more space for you well I'll just Echo you know what I was trying to get at in in what I just sort of dove into is that the what the world needs most now is hope I think because and the and the root of that word is is about the belief that the future will be better than the present right what we all strive to do is while we're here in these bodies in during this Lifetime on Earth is to not only to to become stewards of this Earth our planet to become um uh better communicators to deepen our relationships with one another to uh honor God right I mean this is obviously I'll speak for myself but but I think the collective intention is to leave the Earth in a better condition than where we found it and to leave the people in our lives our loved ones our community members the people we touch through our work to leave them better off right when we go to leave um and to bring Love and Hope and I and so I think you know art reflects that I think that's why you do what you do Kevin I'm not I hope I'm not being presumptuous but I I get a feeling that's what why you do what you do it's certainly what I why I do what I do um to create the possibility for leaving this Earth and leaving the people that we are fortunate enough people whose lives were fortunate enough to touch leaving them better off when we leave and I think art I mean when you're dealing with TV and film you're dealing with the immortality in a way of art right um so I I I'm involved in many pro projects right now one of them um I'm actually writing one right now which is all based based on all of the things we talked about um it's about about Mark shagal actually the um uh painter who was um rescued during World War II or just before during the German occupation of France rescued by um Varian fry who led an organization he's now one of the righteous among nations but he in America Amer um went to France and decided he was because of his love of Art and artists and Artistry he decided it was his life's work to Ser to rescue as many artists from Europe before they were sent to concentration camps by Hitler and the and the Nazi regime right who were in power at the time so here's a man who risk risked his own life to uh rescue artists um so he ended up he and his organization ended up rescuing over 2,000 artists before they and their families were sent to concentration camps um many of them were Jews but they weren't all uh Jews um among those people he rescued were Mark shagal Hannah arent the philosopher and writer and uh Marcel Duchamp anyway I've I become fascinated these days with people who do things like that with their lives risk their very life to save another soul and so I've become uh that's going to be the focus of my next project it's going to be a oneman show so I'm writing that now I'm also involved in uh the Mitzvah project which is a one man show educational program that I'm touring throughout the country and hopefully other other countries to come but it it is it's about uh it takes place in the darkest days of the Holocaust it's about two lives colliding intersecting in aitz in the concentration camp and so it's a program of social justice it speaks about it asks big questions um about why why do we demonize the other why do we discriminate against someone because of the color of their skin their religion uh what they believe in who they choose to love how they identify the Mitzvah project has become so so uh during the pandemic when the pandemic happened I became a teacher I taught high school and through that work got much more involved in working with young people then I got the opportunity to be a guest artist uh with the Mitzvah project and so as of January uary 2023 I've been touring it all over the country and it's become sort of a a main uh part of my focus and inspired me to write my own show because I've seen I love the the con the the uh um the connection that you have with a live public of young people um the the program consists of three different parts there's a there's a performative part for uh that's about 20 minutes then there's a lecture portion and then there's a Q&A and it's it's literally changed my life in particular the the these question and answer sessions with the this younger generation of of people um who are dealing with challenges and obstacles and difficulties that I didn't have to at their age um it's a whole new ball game you know since the pandemic and so to be able to create these spaces where we can have these really difficult really important conversations with the the generation of young people who are the ones who are going to change the world the ones who are responsible for changing the world a world which is very broken a world which is in in disrepair and and and and and hugely disconnected um not only you know the not only in terms of the people there's huge disconnect between people but also disconnect with nature and with Mother Nature and with our Earth anyway I could go on and on but so this has become my life's work and so this is what I'm doing and actually you can go to my website um I I can send you my website it's well it's www. elizah alexander. net and it's it has all the information of the you know the Mitzvah projects that I'm doing uh all the you know upcoming stuff for the chosen that I'm involved in um yeah I'm going I'm actually going in a couple days I'll be in San Francisco out I'll be at a high school there in the Bay Area and then I'll be back in Denver Colorado and hope hopefully this spring I'll be on the east coast in New York and uh the Midwest in Chicago as well so yeah so that's that's basically what I'm what is occupying my time now in between the Mitzvah project and then we we um were SL uh slated to go into production for season five of The Chosen end of April so yeah until then I'm staying open to Opportunities and um but furthering the work that I'm most passionate about well thank you so much Elijah for uh joining us I've yeah I've really just been encouraged and I feel like just some of your insights have have opened my mind about the the character and and also some of the just the implications of the show so I really appreciate uh your work on the show but also all the stuff that you're you're doing outside of it as well so grateful for uh for your presence and and all of your work um yeah thanks again uh for joining us

Channel: The Bible Artist

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Length: 48min 12sec (2892 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 25 2024