Getting to know The Chosen cast and crew - Part 2 | Shine Today

[Music] Welcome to our second shine today special on getting to know the chosen I'm joined by Luke Weston the content director for radio for Rhema media but also very special VIP some would say mvip that's most very uh important kissed at the chosen you've got an opportunity to meet with the director that was behind the camera but also the actors as well yeah it was an amazing experience and if you watched our last program just a bit of a quick recap of what we've covered so far so we're talking about the chosen it's a multi-season gospel biopic it was completely crowdfunded to the tune of about 120 million US Dollars 107 million people have been watching so far it began as a project for a director and Creator called Dallas Jenkins and it's grown into this very ambitious seven season biblical epic now his aim for us for the viewers was to see Jesus Through The Eyes of the people who met Christ face to face who lived work I traveled with him and for whom he transformed their lives yeah I love what Della said in your interview with him when you see Jesus Through The Eyes of those who actually met him you can be changed and impacted in the same way that they were if you can connect with their problems and their questions then you can hopefully connect with the solution and the answer to those questions which is Jesus so so far we've shared your interactions with the crew on the show's Creator and director and also the writing team now though let's meet the cast who brought the disciples to life let's start with the apostles Thomas and John uh disclaimer they did have to hire an Australian I love the fact that everyone has facial hair and the chosen it's just so good and you're not sure whether it's like a style thing or whether it's their actual disciples it's very hard to tell everybody apart it is it totally is but everybody has different like a very different type of facial hair like Giovanni is just I feel like the most perfect beautiful right you guys are looking great well thank you it's good too I respectively you play Thomas and John two of the most beloved disciples big roles to fulfill how much help is the Bible when it comes to these roles or have you just had to go on what the script has said you know it really depends like certain disciples have uh specific moments that happen like I know Thomas is known as the doubter right he's got these iconic moments throughout scripture and stuff like that but uh Tyler Ryan and Dallas do such a good job of fleshing out these characters you know ones that are maybe mentioned a couple times here and there in the Bible they really bring out uh beautiful story lines for them and I think that comes out in the relationships that everybody has with each other which is what makes the chosen so cool it's not just Jesus's perspective on things it's what's John's perspective what's Thomas's perspective Simon's perspective Mary magdalins you know what I mean it's really really cool I think one of the themes we get with John for example is that he's someone eager to impress and be a leader and he's being told to kind of just wait wait your turn he's one of the younger disciples and actually one of the first appearances you get of John in season one is him racing to the the fishing boat to try and help with the miracle of the fish and that's kind of you do see that in the Book of John in that the writing style is a little bit different that he's constantly calling himself the Beloved he's like oh you know the beloved one got there first and this one sat to his to the right or to Jesus's side so you do get a little bit of an Insight with John and I can use that and the writers use that as well in that you know John is this you know he strives to be the best and he's kind of a little bit too conscientious and so I have used that you know he can be a little bit you know of a child and he is Young um and that's really fun to play because then you can see the character grow where you know we know where Jon ends up being a very very important and beloved disciple like you said so that is an incredible Arc and you can use the Bible to help out with that but also the writers have been great so it's a great little uh dovetail to use how are you feeling heading into season three and I know that there are seven seasons planned um are you excited about what the future holds yeah totally uh I mean it's crazy to think that there's gonna be seven seasons of this you know what I mean it's it's super humbling uh we've seen fans you know every now and again coming up to us or sending fan mail or something like that I mean we we there was one one girl that sent uh fan mail to a couple of us I think your name is Michaela and just it was really really nice to you know get a letter and see see things where she says like oh you know I really relate to Thomas you know there are moments in my life where I felt like I haven't had courage and stuff like that and never in my life did I think I was gonna get a you know letter from somebody saying something like that about a about a TV show I'm on so it's it's a pretty cool experience and it's also it's a blueprint really it's changing the way that people will want to make professional content in the future I mean I think every season has had its its story like the first season was it's the largest crowdfunded media project of all time and then the second season we launch our app and then it's free because you know covert hits and I famously the show decides we're gonna make this thing free it's not going to be you're not going to pay for it and that's when it skyrockets which is you know obviously says a lot about not only the content of the show how wholesome it is but also how you know giving our our supporters are it's the ultimate ratings right it's like exactly I believe in this so much I'm gonna pay for it exactly I think people choose whether they want to pay for it or not and then season three well not mistaken we are releasing the the pre The Season's gonna Premiere in theaters it is so there's always something every season that is just groundbreaking and never been done before so it's uh yeah it's definitely working I think answer the question Cool to think you know uh in episode one of season three is gonna air on November 18th in theaters and I don't I don't know if that's been done before with another TV show or anything like that it's pretty remarkable and it's amazing um so many amazing moments in the series so far but I mean for you personally what what's been a highlight what have you really enjoyed I would say personally I think the feeding of the 5000 that we did I know it's been advertised everywhere and the reason it was so cool is because we got to see people from all over the world I mean not not just the states like people were coming from California Texas New York Australian Australia yeah we we had somebody uh there you go right we had somebody uh like from Spain that was like saying hi to us and you just you wouldn't think that it it would have this kind of a reach it's constantly surprising every time we hear something new I mean over 400 million views on the show 58 different languages it's it's it's mind-boggling you know the the CGI that was done in the miracle of the fish was so cool and that used to be my favorite scene to be a part of um you know where we're helping them put all the fish into the boat and it's just this as Dallas called it in our BTS The Big Green Burrito that we have to try and put into the boat it's incredible that they make that look like fish I still don't know but feeding of the 5000 is just this unique experience where I was thinking about this actually on the car right over it's you're doing television acting but you feel like it's theater because all the crowd the 5000 would clap after every shot yeah it was pretty which is cool yeah but then at the same time there's 5 000 of them so it's not like theater because theater I'm fortunate enough to have performed in front of like 700 people but that's still nothing compared to five thousand so it's like a rock star so that experience was like three in one you're a rock star you're an actor you're in theater yeah it's crazy it's got to be hard with the continuity of 5 000 people like hopefully there'll be no scenes with someone on a cell phone or you know baseball cap I know right all fingers crossed yeah yeah no I've seen the shots as well it looks amazing uh well guys thank you so much for all you've brought to the world I just want to finish with a um a question just about you know the relationship that you have as disciples because it you know with the facial it almost looks like the Bee Gees yeah everybody together but you know do you guys get on well like is the onset chemistry been fantastic 100 I mean we're we're fortunate enough to be shooting on locations so we do get to spend a lot of time with each each other we're messing around on set all the time joking around I mean just the other day we were you know hanging out in the room and you started beatboxing and making beats and that was going on for you know five ten minutes and people are coming in like what's going on it's about pickle juice we get given these it like helps with like the hate you drink it's like electrolytes or something and so we did a Beat Box about pickle juice yeah so it's just silly stuff like that you know and I I can confidently say like these people have become like a second family to me you know we're all starting this thing together and it's it's we're growing with it and it's we're constantly surprised and having a great time with one of them and it's just not on set like offset we will like play board games with each other and you know have dinners and it's crazy it's it is like it it's exactly like family it's not just the cast it's it's the crew as well producers come down all the time and high fives and hugs everywhere it's it's great seriously everyone's a big happy family really awesome that seemed like a great bunch of guys absolutely very very big football fans and you know when you meet somebody for the first time and you're kind of just wanting to integrate yourself into the group and he said oh do you like football and I said of course and then he just talked for like 15 minutes let's watch your next interview though this is with Noah and Yoshi who play Andrew and Philip first of all can you tell us a little bit about your respective characters yeah so I play Andrew um since the beginning I've been on I'm the uh I'm one of the fishermen one of the fishermen Brothers uh they're the brothers Thunder and the brothers Jonah which are clearly the better Brothers uh and yeah I um I actually am the first disciple to uh See Jesus at John the Baptist uh along with Philip who comes in later and then I bring the news to Simon my brother and then that sort of uh launches off the whole uh discipleship Journey if you will that's right you're kind of like the first disciple to be enthusiastic and fully immersed in believing in the in the thing yeah yeah yeah and then your brother's a bit more apprehensive right and then we all go through our our ups and downs along yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm Yoshi I play Philip and uh our sort of common ground is that we both used to follow John the Baptist who sort of before Jesus was kind of like the main preacher the guy who was most enthusiastic about the message who also trained Jesus and and I guess in the Bible baptized Jesus but I'm not sure if they did that in our show um and so Philip uh comes in season two um episode two and he's sort of the disciple who's been training in the wilderness for a long time like really building up for this moment waiting for the Messiah to arrive and so the sort of difference between Philip and the rest of the disciples is that he's been training for this whereas the other disciples are still acclimating to the the lifestyle of being on the road giving up their lives giving up their homes and families to follow Jesus Phillips like man where is Jesus I can't wait for him to arrive and so when he comes on board he's sort of the uh the most uh uh sort of uh prepared um for the lifestyle you don't want to rank disciples in terms of importance but you know you can if you want we we can okay you're number two and three uh no no no there's one oops uh no but I you know your characters are mentioned a lot in the Bible was that a good thing or a bad thing for you to have so much scripture that you had to sort of honor and make sure that you were being faithful to uh in your roles I think honestly um when it comes down to it the the thing that we have to interact with the most is the script because it tells us exactly sort of what journey is being plotted out that particular season um for instance this season I mean there will be moments when you watch season three you will see moments from the gospels that you recognize but a lot of it is everything leading up to those moments everything the the building tensions the interpersonal relationships and so that those things we can only get from the script and then we can take inspiration from the gospels and so that's that's sort of How It's been for me uh yeah most of the disciples actually aren't really mentioned too much in the Bible interestingly enough so there is some Freedom there for the writers and for the performers to sort of do a little bit of inventing as far as the characters go and I think the sort of method that the Chosen and the writers have taken is well let's like bring specific parts of the personalities of the actors that we've casted into the the characters and into the roles so I think you're seeing a lot of um real parts of our beings and our and our our personalities come into the characters in the show not necessarily what the Bible says these people were obviously a big part of being a disciple is having the right facial here to pull off the roll you're both doing incredibly well did that come first or is this something that you now just have to leave for the next seven years yeah I think I have it the worst because I got this thing um which was my choice this season to make Philip a little bit more rugged looking it's almost an Old Testament beard like it's going yeah yeah probably Moses yeah maybe Philip's trying to make a name for himself um but uh yeah I kind of dug myself in a hole with this now because now like it's a mistake I think six months of every year I have to have a massive beard yeah obviously every actor wants to be part of something that's bigger than themselves and you've certainly got that with the chosen but what's the reaction been like for you personally to The Chosen because it's become a huge hit you know it's funny I just I thought of there there was one moment where we um we were in Texas and there was this restaurant we really wanted to go to oh my god wow it was another restaurant story basically when we go to restaurants people will come up and and say this show means so much to me and there was one we went to an Italian restaurant and and this little girl and her father came up and and the father was like sorry my my daughter would like to ask you something and she said um you look like the people from The Chosen and we were like oh yeah that that is us and she just immediately starts crying we're like Oh Come here we're like here come sit down we like got to play for her we were like here take photos pretend like we're all just having dinner together just laugh with us she's like crying like do it we're trying to like play pretend with her and then literally I think the next day we wanted to go to a different Italian restaurant which didn't have room for us and George one of our castmates had called and he said uh hey we're trying to get a table for like seven or eight they're like no that's not available yo she's like oh hold on I got you I'm telling this story for you from the outside too because it's worth it so Yosh calls them literally like one minute later and says uh he pulls the card he's like hey uh we're with the cast of The Chosen we would like a table of balls and people and they're like absolutely right away we would love the chosen to come and so you know I I had to tell it because of the the theme of our show uh you know people are feel connected to the source material and and so we we kind of feel that in our interactions with people it's it's really special people really do come up to us and say um this has really Lifted Me Up This has um changed my perspective on life even and that's an unusual as an actor you know an unusual thing to hear if you're just doing certain shows like that and and so the chosen really really um affects people in Monumental ways sometimes and it and it can be overwhelming to see the amount of Love That Gets Sent our way and and we just have to say you know thank you and thank you for watching and being a part of the sort of extended chosen family as I like to think of it great to say that interview back again and it was amazing to chat to these guys about what sort of brought them into the role uh some of them uh Christians and have a personal uh relationship with Jesus some of them just actors and got sort of a casting call I usually live in Hollywood had moved from parts of the world to just pursue their acting careers so many of them just thought of it as a very important acting role and were just stoked to be part of something that was successful finally wow amazing and uh let's continue on then with your interviews you spoke also to the actor who plays an apostle who's so unknown you'd be forgetting uh forgiven rather for getting his name mixed up as I just did now um and so many have left me Giovanni Carlo though you might recognize him as Thaddeus or Jude I love your character in The Chosen and I love that you know you're able to go back into scripture into the Bible and actually do some research about who this man was has that been helpful to you when you've been preparing to you know that's a great question it's interesting because if you look in the Bible it's like Thaddeus is mentioned maybe a couple a couple of times maybe a handful but with the writers Dallas Tyler and Ryan do such a great job is making each character so specific and putting you know specific qualities on each character so I knew right away from reading the scripts of the chosen that Thaddeus was a heart on his sleeve type of guy he's a peacemaker really wanted everybody on the same page when any arguments were kind of coming up so I really connected with that resonated with that and and tried to lead with my heart and bring as much as of myself into it as well so um yeah it's been great yeah I'm really interested in the process of how you came to be on the chosen did you audition were you you chosen so yeah I love that I love that you've chosen um but no it was great yeah I was I was in LA just not really happy with with the way things were going in my career and thinking about going back home to visit family in Michigan take some time off but got an audition for The Chosen didn't know what it was at the time but still sent in a tape for Simon I auditioned for first and got a call back for Andrew shortly after but they wanted us to go to Dallas to basically audition in person and I didn't have the finances for it so ask casting if I could do a self tape for for Andrew and they said we'll get back to you sometimes we do it sometimes we don't in our industry that means probably better luck next time but uh but casting and Dallas was so gracious to to have me audition through self tape again and uh was Skyped with Dallas a couple weeks later and so he said we don't know where we're gonna put you but uh but we want you aboard so and then he offered thaddies to me and him and his wife Amanda had so much to say in the casting process so I'm so grateful for them for that yeah so it starts as an acting job but obviously you know three seasons in now it must feel like so much more than that and I use the word calling like you know what is your connection to the store story and how do you feel about that yeah you know what's what's crazy about it is I think as artists we we strive and want to be part of something that's way bigger than ourselves and a lot of the time we don't get that opportunity um and with the chosen is something completely different for me it's made me want to be a better person to my family my friends people I'm just meeting for the first time and the chosen is just so much about Humanity it's about connection love and relatability these characters are so personal and I think that's what why a lot of people resonate to these characters and the stories that the chosen is telling so it's really made me and inspired me to be a better person to the people that I care most about and people I meet yeah that's fantastic um you mentioned before that you know your character is a sort of hard on a sleeve person but when that is the beauty of the chosen that each one of the characters there seems to be the space which is obviously very deliberate for the audience to get to know kind of what makes them tick as people and we don't get that as you said in scripture you don't get a lot of information about who these men were and their families and their backgrounds has that been an interesting process to go through yeah it's it's been great because I think growing up uh when I always picture Jesus I I didn't really relate to him on a personal level right I always I think a lot of people would put them up on a pedestal and being like oh I can't really uh connect fully with him or the disciples for that matter um but then even on season one of the chosen you're seeing Jesus dance with with his disciples and friends at the wedding you're you're seeing him crack jokes with people he's around you're seeing him shed tears of joy tears of sadness and when you're seeing those humanistic qualities you know people are able to look at these characters and especially Jesus and be like I can connect so they're Bridging the Gap between that and really making people understand like hey like we're going through these same emotions we're going through these same circumstances so that's been that's been so life-changing for me love what he said they're life-changing right yeah absolutely isn't it incredible that a TV show I kind of feel like that's what happens with us too that a piece of media can be life-changing but that's what happens when God partners with it and it genuinely has been so look let's um move on to our final interview I know the one you've been very eager to see it's your Corridor with a guy who plays Jesus this is Jonathan Rumi when you first got offered this role what was the process of accepting it because I imagine you had some trepidations about it it's a big role to take on uh I needed a job really badly so I didn't have to think much uh or very long um seriously speaking I actually had known Dallas I had done a few short films with him uh playing Jesus before so we we sort of had a a couple of practice runs added the approach to the character that that he had in mind for the series and so it was a matter of just perfect timing I I was already and and willing and able to to step back into the role and and uh as an actor it must be an amazing role though because there's so much depth and it means so much to so many people which I guess is really what you want yeah you know there's there's not too many other projects that will have such uh an enormous impact on on people's personal lives and and some of the stories that people have come to me with have just been mind-blowing when it comes to how the chosen has affected them and how um you know they might have been in a really dark place in their lives and somebody show them the the program and and it actually pulled them out of this this you know pit of despair where they were in and got them either re-engaged with their faith or introduced them to A Jesus that they had hadn't seen before didn't really know before didn't think was accessible and and full of the love and and Zeal and and uh uh energy that the Jesus that we attempt to portray uh possesses for the show um you're in season three now which must feel incredible because I guess season one is like is it gonna work season two is let's make sure it's working and then season three's like we've made it um so how does that feel like that the show is so well received and such a massive success well you know it it never really feels like you've made it but I think with the chosen uh for season three especially you know we're deeping we're digging deeper into these um uh explorations of of the the characters that are now okay the the disciples have been established now the storylines are going a little uh further in we're seeing conflict between the Pharisees and Jesus we're seeing conflict amongst the disciples themselves you know what it means to be in a group of people following this guy and then you have you know human conflict and and I think that's what really makes it interesting and accessible and um when when we release season three on the 18th of November in theaters and in the English-speaking world I think people are going to be blown away by by what the level that we're we're attempting and then the scope of the show it's just everything's just leveled up yeah it's amazing it's amazing to see the sound Studios and what the the team has built incredible I'm interested in your process do you let your mind go forward I don't know when it will be season six season seven when you're gonna have to do some very very tough scenes like the crucifixion or do you just keep your mind on what's in front of you today you know I think when playing Jesus I I try to stay as present as possible um and as a human as well I think it just kind of circumvents this this natural tendency towards anxiety that we possess as human beings it's like when we start you know fixating on the future or you know living in the past all of a sudden we've got all this stress and and these things that one is hasn't happened the other it's passed you can't control it so there's there's really um nothing more to do than really try to focus on being present and I think with Jesus it's the same thing I think he was probably one of the most present people on the face of the planet because he was with people and he not he you know empathized and he knew their pain and he gave them the healing when you know that he knew they needed it and they were ready for it and so I try not to think of of future Seasons just yet I you know I we don't we're not given scripts they're just writing season four now um we're not given Advanced story lines um occasionally I can kind of get some hints about certain things but um for the most part we're sort of you know kept in the present because of the process which I think works perfectly for me and ultimately you know where it's hitting right because you've read the book yeah yeah read the book yeah yeah um spoiler earlier spoiler earlier absolutely um are you rocked At All by criticism I know it's been incredibly well received but obviously it's a controversial role to play do you keep your head out of that sort of stuff yeah I think I think when whenever well I mean when you're doing anything you know there's always going to be positive and negative criticism you know somebody will always have something to gripe about and other people will will love everything you do and you just got to take it all with a grain of salt and just keep your head down and moving forward and focus on the work yeah personal highlight from filming what you've filmed so far what have you enjoyed the most the responses and the impact of the show I met a young woman who was on the verge of suicide at one point and somebody got her to just watch in the first episode of the show and it changed her life literally and a year later we were sitting around with her family talking about it and everybody was a pilateers and she has since gone on to start working with other young people who are depressed and who are in need and uh and just knowing that that uh that entertainment obviously has such influence there's no I mean there's no better feeling than being a part of something that can affect somebody can literally Save a Life yeah even if it was just that one story it would probably be worth it but that millions of people that one life is worth everything that's so good well thank you so much for what you bring uh as the character it's incredible and thanks so much for what uh The Chosen means to so many people thanks Luke appreciate it you know there's a bit of um creative and poetic license that goes on but I think overall they've been incredibly faithful to scripture and it is very powerful and it does make you reassess your own faith and your perspective on on these issues and what a privilege to live in an era like this too where of course we can watch shows like the Chosen and remember that you can watch season one of the chosen on demand at shinetv.co.nz or of course with the shine app um just a little taster for you by the way keep your eyes open for Luke's cameo in future episodes can you tell us anything about her or is it just going to be a surprise uh it's well it's a surprise okay absolutely but I didn't grow a beard for nothing so so look thank you for joining us and we'll see you another time on shine today [Music]

Channel: Shine TV

Views: 40,585

Keywords: shine tv, christian tv, when calls the heart, christian new zealand tv, christian, shineathon, christian media, christian movies, new zealand on demand

Id: rPADzg2an8I

Length: 28min 52sec (1732 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 16 2022