The Chosen: How One Series Captivated the World with Jonathan Roumie and the Cast

your rings thank you thank you it matches the jacket that's right yeah I'm not giving them up though I originally got to go on the set of the chosen in Midlothian Texas for season four to speak with the chaos on how the show is bringing people together and changing lives I'm Noah Wilson and here are my interviews with the cast from The Chosen Jonathan is so nice to be here in your world in the chosen going into the fourth season how incredible is that yeah it's pretty extraordinary you know when we first started we had no concept of where we would get to we hoped we would get seven eight seasons but initially we we knew we had four episodes of one season that was crowdfunded and we thought well let's just give it our all for four episodes and thing you know here we have here we are four seasons later now has the crew talked to you about how the show's going to end when it comes to the seventh season um yeah so so we we have a pretty good idea and Dallas our creators has talked openly about it so um I think by season seven we'll be focusing on the resurrection and then after that who knows what will happen but uh yeah at least uh at least I've got a few more seasons God willing in me did you ever get discouraged at some points of the process of creating this thinking you know we're building this from scratch season one all the viewers weren't there now you know going into season four massive audience yeah well discouraged might be the wrong word I've been frustrated multiple times right because it's just really hard and season four is just as hard if not harder than season one even though we've got so much more attention and and uh and success the work never stops being hard managing all these uh like the cast and crew and employees and all that never stops being hard trying to write a good show never stops being hard trying to be a good husband and father in the midst of all of it so there's been many times when I've been frustrated but always always always God brings me back to this place of surrender and and sustaining and and just going you know what I got seven seasons of this I just can't afford to to be knocked around I've just got to keep keep like I said like my wife always says ham to plow yeah keep going now to others that look at this show and might say that they feel as if religion is shoved down their throat what would you say to them about that I've never experienced that and in fact when I was initially um turned on to the show and to the possibility of working with Dallas one of my concerns in fact was that I didn't want to go work on a show that was proselytizing or that was trying to sell religion or sell a political point of view um and I never got that sense from the show and had I gotten that sense I wouldn't have been here because for me it's all about providing at the end of the day something that is entertaining and entertaining doesn't mean it has to be silly it can be uplifting it can be spiritually uplifting but it first and foremost is about telling a story and I found his work to be just that you're sending us out of the ability to heal the second lane you said yes telling me that I have the ability to heal can you talk to me about how this show has helped you grow as a person from start to where we're at right now yeah I mean when I booked the chosen I was a struggling actor just you know scraping to get by feeling stuck worrying about how I was gonna provide for my family and um The Chosen came along and it helped bring these amazing people in my life I've developed these lifelong friendships so it's it's changed my life in that regard um and then on an even deeper level before the chosen I had a really um difficult relationship with with my disability and and um my limp because as an actor that was something I always felt I needed to hide and I should be ashamed of and the chosen um and Dallas Jenkins the creator of the chosen by embracing that and making it part of my character Little James uh it helped me learn to love and accept myself a little bit more and now it's something that I'm incredibly proud of and to be you know an example for other people with disabilities to see themselves in the show so yeah yeah it's definitely it's definitely a true Family Man I mean it these are just such genuine not only talented but genuine kind-hearted people uh that we've been so fortunate enough to get to know for five years and spend time with and for me you know playing the disciple Thaddeus he's very much a peacemaker you know he sees P he's sees people for who they are and goes through their insecurities and really makes people feel seen and growing up without a father figure in my life I grew up with a lot of insecurities a lot of not feeling like I belonged in a way too yeah I can't relate to that yeah oh my gosh man well my heart goes out to you so I know what you feel and um Thaddeus is kind of like the best friend I needed growing up so in a way he's healing my childhood wounds and I feel like I'm trying to do the best to relate that to people that kind of went through that to make them feel seen so absolutely now what's been the reaction from the fans when they come up to you guys in person to express their love for this show yeah yeah um for me personally it's been yeah it's really really positive especially when they tell me like something personal how it's really helped them um grow closer to whether it's their faith or their family or restore a relationship that they realize or even just change their heart from you know whether they were bitter about something or not accepting of something and they're really starting to see why Jesus came and what his message is truly so that's so special and to be a part of a show that's changing lives is really so humbling to be a part of very well said yeah and and so many people relate also um to to these characters you know these are characters from the first century or and people are definitely having such such an emotional connection to them um people even fathers you know not only mothers coming up to me or send me messages saying you know I my kid just went off to college I kind of feel the same way you know like they're they're gone and what do I do with myself and so it's it's it's really beautiful to see how how we're building connections even though we're using the first century as our story no one meets no one exactly that's what we should tell this Noah hello I was like I think it's gonna rain get the art ready yeah in Texas how's the weather like here is it crazy it's hot is that a trap question because the answer is the weather is insane it makes no sense I don't understand the Texas weather like one minute we're like burning up and then the next we're like holding for lightning we can't film in it then one time the set flooded and part of it kind of washed away in the rain it's definitely a little crazy out here in Texas tell me the similarities of how you you know see this show as it being 2 000 years ago but it has some relatability to people today that's why there's this massive audience that's watching the show yeah absolutely I think because no matter what you know people are people and people were the same 2000 years ago we dealt with the same anxieties the same struggles hardships depression depression love um you know all of those things we try to explore that on the show because it's important to tell the story of what it is to be a human being and I think that the audience notices that and they say oh that is how I've responded when I've been struck with a panic attack and and then you got to see the characters you know try to find their way through it and some succeed and some fail and that's all what we're doing in telling the show is saying what would it be like to live at a time when Jesus comes into your world and you say I'm gonna give my life to following him and I may be getting kicked out of town by religious leaders I may be eating you know four little kernels of rice a day um and and so that that struggle I think we try to make it as grounded and as real as possible so that you really get the feeling of being transported now what do you think makes the chosen unique versus other religious programs movies I mean I I think this is so much more self-explanatory yeah we really are this um you know we are a his Oracle drama we care about showing the interpersonal relationships between these characters it's not just going Bible story The Bible story it's really a television show about the people surrounding Jesus and Jesus himself what it would be like to go through these turmoils and these triumphs and seeing the growth of these characters seeing them so that when the inevitable end that we know will happen at the end of this show it really is that much more impactful because you've watched these people throughout hopefully seven seasons of the show and that's that's really what we try to do we try to take it away from the realm of you know marvel statues or saying like and this character did this and the cheesiness maybe that that could be there and we we don't want any of that we want the dirt and the grime and the you know intensity of what that would be and trying to really really showcase that I feel bye I've got it the opening yes what is it a map playing Matthew how honored and challenging of a role was this for you like was it any pressure at all you know it was there was no pressure at the beginning because it was kind of I felt like I was entering this world of unknown which means that I didn't I didn't know what the expectations of me were but what was great was collab collaborating with our showrunner Creator Dallas Jenkins who this character meant so much to him and we just kind of got along so well that we hit this groove and um you know we just you just the the the secret sauce the magic sauce shows and us doing our scenes together because um you know I I can just hear a note and then just go there and so I basically you know in acting they tell you prepare but then throw it all away when you film and that's what I did and I just lived in it and that's that's what shows and Liz you play Mary Magdalene how has it been like to get into this character transform be Mary uh you know we saw her in the first episode of the first season that's how the show really opened up um yeah I mean it was it was easy to to start playing her because I was I felt very connected to the emotional state she was in in the first episode I was going through my own thing and and I was like this is cathartic in a lot of ways um and then over the course of all these Seasons I feel like she has grown so much and matured and has sort of been an inspiration to me and in a lot of ways I'm like learning from her growth of what growth really looks like which sometimes takes time and is sometimes two steps forward one step back and but it's been beautifully written and so it's been kind of easy to just let her lead and Now Jasmine I want to point out to our audience you have stated that playing Rama has become one of your favorite characters to play yeah can you explain why oh my gosh uh I have you met her she's awesome yeah she's amazing so I just think she's taught me so much and I absolutely love the journey that she's going on and what she's learning and how she's going about it like when you see her she she already is a feisty spunky kind of follow your gut kind of person and a great businesswoman I would say yeah um and then you know she has to make that decision to go away from home and that's obviously not the easiest decision um and she does and she does it because she's following her heart she's following her gut and you see how she grows from that it's not easy to go away from something from her support system that she's been so used to for her whole life and now she has to figure out how to make this work for her not just for herself but then she has this other person that she feels like she is connected to and also trying to you know there's a part of her that wants to make sure that he's doing good and that they're doing good and now she's making these friends and she wants to make sure that she's a good friend and now she likes this guy Jesus and now she's trying to like just trying to like learn the messages and learn how to read and write for him and be a good student be a good follower um and that's just come into my life in so many ways that I had no idea that it was doing that until I you know just sat back and thought about it and it's affected me in such a great way what made this role playing Jesus or you know really stand out to you like how did you get approached to play this character so I worked with Dallas in the four years Prior playing Jesus for short films for his church and and we had a really good relationship and uh and kind of a shorthand and with the films that he shot were sort of like a testing ground for the series so we we kind of developed our own you know rhythm with the character with the storytelling and that sort of gave us some some um you know a really good spot to jump off for once we began the series now you spoke out that you were at your lowest point in your life about five years ago you know trying to make it as an actor I assume in Hollywood yeah talk to me about that moment in your life and how when joining this show really changed how things were going in your life trying to you know survive and you know live and do what you love acting yeah man you know I was um I was I have I'd exhausted my resources at that point I've been in La for eight years and I was out of money I I was literally out of food this this one particular day in May in 2018 and uh I I kind of just sort of dropped to my knees and resorted to prayer and I poured my heart out to God and I I asked them to show me what it was that he won from me and and that involved just completely letting go of any preconceived notions of what I wanted out of my life and to just let him lead and uh and that day I experienced a financial Miracle there was no other way to describe it and it kind of answered that question in my mind that like I had to I had to just put myself in my my needs aside and just allow God to kind of take control when it came to my career because I hadn't done that I hadn't invited him into that process in my life I kind of invited him in other areas but when it came to my career I was like I know what to do I'm an actor I'm here I'm trained I'm in Los Angeles I got this and then I didn't have it and so once I said you take it you take care of everything he did because he knew he had my heart and he had my attention and like I said I experienced this this miracle and I said okay this is this is how I have to live my life now and then three months later Dallas had called me and I hadn't talked to him in like about a year from the last short film I did with him and he said hey I think I'm doing a TV show we got four episodes we're gonna do do you want to step into the sandals again I said 100 and it's it's been upwards ever since and here I am getting to talk to you now now Dallas talk to me about your faith because you've been very open in the public eye about your faith with Jesus talk to me about that and how he's really helped and changed your life well I yeah I'm a strong Evangelical believer I have been my whole life the show has I think made me even closer to Jesus because not only am I learning more about him because I'm portraying him to the world but I'm forced to rely on him even more with the increased increased pressure increased work requirements all of that has caused me to be even more intimate with Jesus which ultimately is so beautiful because that's I think the number one thing I'm learning and what I'm trying to portray in the show that Jesus wants a personal relationship with people he's not just a god of the masses he's a god of the personal of the intimate we see that throughout the gospels as he spoke to each person on an individual level to their specific needs and he does that with me too and so that drives what I do it and I think it allows me to actually do what I do tell us how exciting is it to see the chosen in the fourth season now it's going to go all the way to Seven Seasons yeah that the the fact that we have this much momentum and it doesn't seem to to stop it it might seem like uh it's so tempting to look back and think of like oh where we started and where we were and those thoughts happen all the time but like just like we're gonna go to work tonight yeah you know there's so much ahead of us and I'm like trying to keep my eye on season seven you know because if we actually get there you know there's so many things that can happen right like pandemic stop shootings uh filming pandemic ruined everything yeah pandemic ruined everything but like zoom in interviews but one strength of the show is we know where it's ending up yeah and we're so lucky to have seven seasons we know where you know Jesus ends up and that is like the fans are seeing like how is this going to happen and also because we build up all the characters and the relationships that moment is going to be so much sadder and uh its emotions and that's what you know the intelligence series is all about and the great thing about this is you know y'all stuck people from all different backgrounds stuck them in a room yes let them watch the show yes and they come out and they have a different perspective on live a different perspective on Jesus like that's life-changing yeah that would that you see that most uh clearly on gen Z documentary that was done yeah uh which is a fabulous documentary and uh you know look even for myself you know I identify as a Christian but I'm certainly I wouldn't say that I'm a devout Christian or a a a regularly practicing Christian but even for myself while my my day-to-day work is is predominantly secular work I can't help but be affected by the show the show's a very powerful show and I can't help but feel the effects of how it affects other people who watch it around the world and I can't help but feel a sense of what Jesus brought to the table for millions of people foreign [Music] [Music]

Channel: iHollywoodTV

Views: 199,081

Keywords: the chosen, the chosen interview, the chosen interviews with cast, the chosen season 4, The Chosen Season 4 Interview, the making of the chosen, the chosen behind the scenes, the chosen dallas jenkins, the chosen jonathan roumie, jonathan roumie, jonathan roumie jesus, jesus jonathan roumie, the chosen jesus, the chosen tv series, the chosen season 3, the chosen season 2, the chosen season 1, Jordan Walker Ross, Giavani Cairo, Noah James, binge jesus, the chosen cast

Id: tH-MDeZ34R0

Length: 20min 26sec (1226 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 28 2023