(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Hey, everybody. Welcome to the American
Songwriter Podcast Network. This is All Heart with Paul Cardall. ♪ Child, lift up your weary heart ♪ ♪ This world can be unkind ♪ ♪ Don't let them define you ♪ ♪ Child, tomorrow breath ♪ - Hello, everybody. Welcome to All Heart, I'm Paul Cardall broadcasting from Sarasota, Florida. Those of you watching on YouTube you can see the beautiful,
beautiful ocean. That is the Gulf of Mexico and it's spring time,
flowers are coming out. It's a reminder life begins anew with everything we've been through it's a powerful reminder
that we are pulling through, we are getting through all of this. Today's episode is very important because Easter season is upon us, and The Chosen is a very
popular biblical TV series. And we've talked to Jonathan
Roume who plays Jesus. If you go back into
episodes back in season one you can hear that same with
my interview in Dallas Jenkins who is the creator and the director and the writer of the chosen series. And today's guest is Noah James. Noah plays Andrew in the series. This is just a remarkable person. In fact, I had such a great
time talking with him, the interview that you're gonna hear that we invited him to do
the narration for my story which is the broken miracle. You can check that out on Audible it's a lot of fun to
hear Noah share the story written by J.D. Netto. You can learn more about that also with the brokenmiracle.com, but without further ado
let's get into this interview with my good friend and
amazing actor, Noah James. - Yo.
- Oi man. How are you? Good, good, good to meet you. - What an honor, man. We have enjoyed your
work, it's been amazing. - Oh, thank you so much. Thank you. - We had Dallas on the show. - He's Clark Kent, as we call him. - He's so funny. (Noah laughs) He just everywhere at once. He's like a free safety
on a football team. - Oh, he's everywhere. He can't get past him too. - And then we had Jonathan. Yeah, he was fantastic and we had a chance to
talk about his career, which is kind of what
I want to do with you. - Yeah, totally. - Because everybody is
in love and obsessed and I thought it was so cool though that you guys ended up and I know Daryl. - Yeah okay, cool, cool. - Now that you guys would
end up in a Mormon set with an evangelical director. - Oh, it's everything. We got it all, man. - It's so awesome I love it. And being in Goshen, Utah,
all that stuff that's cool. So we're gonna get into that, but so Noah, thank you, welcome for being here on All Heart with the American
Songwriter Podcast Network, you are a musician. - I am a musician. I am, but it's funny. I use that, it's like in quotes because
I grew up playing music. I started with bass when
I was in fourth grade and I think I started with bass because my brother played guitar. So I couldn't quiet and
he's four years ahead of me so I was like, okay, well
let me do the other thing. But I was always a guitarist
who played bass, I think. And then I started playing guitar right around freshman year of high school, and then I picked up the ukulele, which now I probably play most of all ukulele and acoustic
guitar and mandolin I got. - I love it. - But I always knew, like I was in a band. I was in a Green Day cover band
when I was in middle school. - Before American Idiots. - Yeah it was before
American Idiot even came out. And we would play at the
the pep assemblies and stuff and I always loved being
on stage playing music but I knew even then that
when my friends in the band would be like, "Yeah,
maybe we can do this. Maybe we can make this what we do." I always just like, "No, I'm not gonna..." (Noah laughs) For some
reason I just knew that that wasn't gonna be my life as a musician but I do still play as
a hobby and I like it. - Well, I see it sometimes on
your Instagram you're playing. - Oh yes. (Noah laughs) - And then some of your colleagues that are also on The Chosen are playing, Jonathan plays the drums. (drums playing) I think it's Jam that plays Peter. - Yes Shahar plays bass. Oh yeah, but he's a really,
really good bass player. And we had a little cast party, we've only filmed the
first half of season two and not in sequential order, just random pieces of season
two we have half of it and then we'll do the rest
of it starting in January. But when we finished filming
that portion in Goshen, Utah, we had a little cast party. And at the cast party, we all had our sort of travel instruments and Jonathan got a I
forget what it's called, (drum plays) A box. - Box, yeah, he loves to box. - Yeah, and so we had a
great time just playing kind of all all night. - So Noah, where did you grow up? - I grew up in Tempe, Arizona. - Arizona? - Yeah, Arizona. - Goshen look. - What was say that again?
- You said that Goshen, Utah, the desert look of being cold down there. - Totally yeah, although it wasn't nearly
as cold as it was in Goshen. That was new to me and I've never quite, I went to school. So I was in Tempe until I was 18 and then I went to
school in New York at NYU and that was like the first
time I had ever been in the cold or even in snow, I don't
think I'd ever seen it snow until I got to college and
I have not adjusted at all, I still freeze when I'm in
anywhere under 40 degrees I'm just totally out for the count. - Did you choose to go to NYU obviously to do acting or what is it? - Yeah, I was always a
and sort of have been a procrastinator, and for some reason,
someone had told me that NYU had a great acting program
and I looked that one up only and was like, yes, it does look good, let me only apply there. And so I only applied, which
is like the worst advice anyone could ever give. I only applied to NYU
and I was kind of going my mom was like, "Maybe
look at some schools on the West coast, you're close." And so I was like, "Yeah, I'll look and maybe apply at some point." And so like not paying attention. So I auditioned for NYU early decision and flew to New York with
my mom and I go upstairs and you're waiting with all the other kids and everyone is like it's the
most nervous I had ever been. And I didn't even know like really, ignorance is bliss, I didn't understand like how many people are gonna be auditioning or anything there but so I'm there, I do it, and
then I get home and I'm like, all right let's take a few weeks off and then I can look at the other colleges see what's going on. - Now when you're auditioning you're doing like a
monologue of some kind? - I did two monologues, I had a dramatic monologue
and a comedic monologue. And then I had- - Which one did you think was
better, comedic or dramatic? - They were both probably bad. (Noah laughs) I think they both were bad, if I look back I would
have probably said that my dramatic monologue was good, and then looking back, I'm
like, what was I doing? Just very strange idea
of how to be dramatic, But kids, and I always
sort of had an innate, I understood performance
and and how to be on stage and make people laugh so I got the comedic stuff and the dramatic stuff was I dunno, I definitely had to go to school and learn I'm happy they let me in. - But did you have enough life experience at that time to know how to draw on something dramatic and painful? - I always knew that I
wanted to approach things through the imagination. So there's a lot of not
to get like too actory, but there's a lot of different
sort of schools of acting. And one of which is bring
up painful personal memories and sort of link it to the scene, and I always knew that that
didn't seem like the way for me, but I went to the Meisner Studio and he was a really prolific
American acting teacher. The big three American acting
teachers being Strausberg who was that kind of emotional recall guy, and then Adler and Meisner, and Meisner is all about living truthfully under imaginary circumstances. So it's all using your
imagination and putting yourself in the character's shoes and
then where there are gaps that's where you start to link it by using your pure imagination. - Which seems healthier. - It certainly did to
me and it still does. - How many actors go into depression not because it's hard to find a job but because you're drawing on so much pain and you're living that day
after day to get there? - It gets hard. It's almost like if you were
trying to run a marathon every single day, you
get burnt out like that and that's going to be there for you. Like if you're doing a scene and it has a really
tumultuous relationship with your mother or something and you have one with
your mother like that, you don't need to do a lot of work to, that's gonna be there for you. You don't need to like, then on top of it be whipping yourself on the
back, that's there for you. So anyway, to briefly close
out too on the audition thing, I got home and I waited a few weeks. I took some time off before
looking at other schools, and then I realized that
I had missed the deadline for every other school to apply and so then I went into a panic mode, and then two days later I
found out that I got into NYU and I was like, that's it,
I guess I'm going to NYU. - That is amazing, God is on your side. - Yeah it was something, it was definitely and I'm so happy and thankful that I went I had a great time. - And I'm looking at your IMDB, that is the where you can find out what everybody has been
in on the imdb.com. So I'm seeing that you did
an episode of Rivendale? - I have a lot of friends from NYU who we're in the film department
and film program and stuff, and so we're always kind
of making our own work in the in-between, to keep ourselves sane while going from job to job
or trying to get the next job. And so that was a short
sketch of river Riverdale that's the CW show and
it's placed in Rivendale which is the Lord of the Rings Elvin Town. And so we were like elves
but going to high school being all. - I've seen a bunch of these like "The Elf Who killed Santa." - Oh yes that was... (Noah laughs) - "Breaking & Entering". Everybody, the apostle Andrew. - Oh yeah, there's a lot. - "Dog It Down", some name is "Missing Vivian" that's another one. - Oh that was a strange one, I killed someone in that one. Oh, there was a murder at sea, I was in a boat in Long Beach filming on a Russian
man's semi yacht thing, listen, I've done a lot of
strange independent films. - "Drunk Hawk Man" this is a series. - That was a series, so that was actually the same
people who did Rivendale, "Drunk Hawk Man", Hawk
Man is like a superhero that's kind of, not all that well known, and so the idea behind it was that it was a superhero who's kind of doesn't know what he's doing with his life. And I actually played The Green Lantern who was his best friend who he convinces to go on benders with him. - That your favorite
superhero, The Green Lantern? - You know who my favorite superhero is, when I was a child I loved
X-Men and I'd watch the cartoon. And I collected cards and I remember when my
parents were divorced and my mom got remarried when
I was maybe in second grade, and I refused to wear a tie at the wedding unless it had a Wolverine on it. And we found a Wolverine tie, he was my- - Your parents' second marriage wearing the wolf shirt. You're part of the wolf pack now, I mean, we're part of the wolf pack. (Noah laughs) - It's true.
- You're crazy. And then you played Barry on this season's episode of "Shameless". - That actually literally
just premiered yesterday. - You can go and watch
if you love "Shameless" I've never seen an episode
but you can go watch. - It's pretty much the
opposite of "The Chosen". - Well, you gotta have a diverse profile, you're all over the place. And it's interesting too, because for those that
have watched "The Chosen" were big chosen people. When we saw your character of Andrew, you're very soft-spoken,
you're just natural because your character is
the first to recognize that Jesus of Nazareth is the lamb of God. You were following John the
Baptist as the story goes, John tells you, "This isn't in the chosen but go follow the other guy because I can't even latch at his shoes." Or something like that. But then here's your
personality in real life like this is the brilliance of acting. (Noah laughs) You're so going and fine and comedic, and yet you have this
serious character that, you try to tease Peter a little bit but it's like one
hundredth of who you are. - For sure no, I'm
definitely a very outgoing, an outgoing dude. And I think that when I started acting, the thing that really made me realize that this is what I wanted to do with my life was the idea that I could live
an infinite amount of lives in one life and experience
all the things that humanity has to experience. And so what I looked at that
I was really excited about with Andrew was I loved
the idea of that brother sort of in the background, whereas I'm used to being on stage, as an actor, I liked the idea
of being in the background, trying to just work things
out as best as possible, intellectually, not the
one to run into a fight. - Nano part. - Yes, exactly. But then when in episode four, when I run all the way
from John the Baptist and from seeing Jesus, (finger snaps) it's like leaping right away. When that's makes itself known
to me, there's no hesitation. so I really, really just wanted to, I was looking forward to
bringing that to life. - Well, and that's what we see
is you have this conviction that Peter does not yet have, and you're there pitching him and trying to really convince him, and this is what's crazy
is you found the Messiah that every person throughout
history has been waiting for, and you just happened to find him and then you go and try to
convince Peter and we all know, it's like Titanic, we all
know what's gonna happen but when you're right there with it, the great thing about this show is there's major character development. So by the time the ship starts to sink, we're gonna be so invested
in each character, it's gonna be fascinating
to see how Dallas and the other writers lead you
guys down that fateful road. - We talk about that a lot because if all goes according to plan and we're able to do this the
way they want to do it for, they talk about seven seasons of the show and we're just filming the second. That is such an amazing opportunity to really be with these
people for a long, long time. Unlike when you see a movie of it and it essentially relies on the fact that you already know the story, and then you kind of see the
ending, but this is not that this is really experiencing
the interpersonal connections between these people and
seeing how at the end that could be so much more
momentous because of that. I think that's the goal of the show to really build that world out. - Hey, everybody, I wanna take a break from this incredible
conversation with Noah James to tell you about betterhelp.com. I'm actually working out right now because I know how important
is to get control over our mind and our body. Betterhelp.com is an opportunity for those of you that
want a personal counselor, a therapist, maybe you
don't wanna let people know that you need some help. You go to betterhelp.com, they will match a counselor for you that you could interact with online. I come to a point where
I can't manage myself and I recognize I need help, so go to betterhealth.com
and start getting that weight in your mind and your body
lifted to feel extra freedom, betterhelp.com but right now back to this conversation with Noah James. So let's back up and talk
about how Dallas found you, how you found Dallas, and I understand that
Andrew wasn't the first role that you thought you might be inheriting. - Yeah, so I auditioned
first for the shepherd which was the short film that
really led to "The Chosen". And I didn't know anything
about it because no one did, it was just a short film and
hadn't obviously been made. So I read and knew, okay,
this is a Christmas short and it was going to film over
Christmas basically, I think. - Could an agent send you a script? - Yeah, so my agent was
like, go in for this audition just like any other audition like, "Here's the script, go in tomorrow." And so I read it and really
thought it was well-written and I liked the fact that
it was a period piece, but it doesn't feel stale and old and so that was really intriguing. But then it was just
like a lot of auditions where I went in. I did it that one time for the
casting director and I left and I never heard again. And I didn't know that I was maybe in the running for that part, and the guy that got it also is amazing and he should have
gotten cast in that part. - They film you though cause later Dallas sees this stuff. - Right, they tape the audition and then they send it to Dallas. So I didn't meet Dallas
like I'd never saw him, and then a year and a half later (Noah laughs) I come in, I said that again, sorry. (indistinct) No, it's pretty crazy when you think about how it all happened, but
yeah, a year and a half later, I get the call to go in for "The Chosen" for the role of Simon who becomes Peter and I had no idea that it was
connected to the short film I auditioned for a year and a half ago. Again, I went in one day
and never heard again. And I walked in and Dallas said, "Noah, listen we asked
specifically for you, we're so happy you're here." And I thought he was mistaken. I was like, he thinks I'm someone else. And so finally I was like, "Dude, I think that you
think I'm someone else." He's like, "No, didn't
your agents tell you we asked for you specifically?" I was like, "Absolutely not, I did not know that, but
I'm happy to know that now." - That's kind of feel good. - It did feel good and then you have to, and then he's like, "Great,
let's see the scene." And I was really excited, I knew that I wasn't quite
in the target for Simon. Not that I wasn't going to act it my way or bring myself to it, but you just know when
you're reading a part like my instrument. As actors we are our own instrument and I knew that it wasn't in
the bullseye of the character. And so when that happens, when
you get auditions like that, you prepare and you really
bring yourself to it and you do your best with it, but you really are auditioning
for the show as a whole, and you're kind of going like, look I'm doing the work and
I may not fit this exactly but hopefully there's
something else here for me. And that's exactly what happened. He asked, I think at
the audition, he's like, "What do you think? Do you think of yourself as Simon?" And I was like, "I think it'd be kinda hard
for you to cast me as Simon." And he's like, "Yeah, I was
thinking the same thing." I was like, "But I think
there's other stuff." I really liked this world. And he's like, "I agree, I'm gonna be in touch, I'm gonna send you other people let me just think about it." - That's amazing, I know
that Dallas was specific in trying to recreate people
that would have looked like they lived in Israel at the time, I'm curious what your heritage is and if you came from a religious home. - So my dad is from Israel. So yeah, so there you go. And then on my mom's side, actually, both sides were Sephardic Jews. And so meaning- - That is uneducated people. - So Sephardic Jews are Jews sort of coming from the region
of Spain or around Spain, Spain, Morocco, Northern Africa. So I'm about 75% Sephardic,
25% Ashkenazi and yeah. And on my mom's side,
family from Turkey, Greece, my dad's Israel, Syria that whole Mediterranean Middle Eastern area. - Beautiful, my wife and I travel a lot. We've been Turkey, Israel,
a bunch of times and- - Gorgeous. - It's not only is it the best food it's the best looking people (Noah laughs) really is amazing. I can't stand COVID
because I wanna travel. - Believe me, I'm a big traveling guy and it's been a challenge to know that that is
just on hold for a while. Although maybe we're on
the other side of things and looking at the other half. But actually, I just went
to London right in February right before everything
shut down in March. So I got a little bit
of the itch scratched and now I'm just at home in my kitchen. - So it's a miracle though
that you guys are able to during the COVID crisis, be
able to assemble and film this? Because there was no place to film, originally it was done in Texas because that's the part
of the United States that Dallas felt looked the
most like ancient Israel. Cause he hadn't been to Utah
where I'm from, I'm from Utah. - Oh, really? What part of Utah? - I grew up in salt Lake city. - Oh, okay, yeah. - I live in Nashville now for some time, but it was interesting to watch
when the dilemma came about what are we gonna do? He was asking for prayers,
fasting like he does then out of nowhere there's this set. It was used for other productions of reenactment of the Bible, anyways it's been used a lot for the church of Jesus
Christ of latter day saints and their purposes. I didn't realize they rent that out. - They kind of don't so it's
actually they really don't. But I think what it was
was they saw "The Chosen" and they really, really, it
really resonated with them, and I think they had had that
on their radar for a while, but they had heard that's
not gonna be rented out, that set, which is understandable. But then when they saw "The Chosen" it resonated with them so much and then they approached
them again after season one, and then I think that's
when that deal was made. The production value that
that set lends to the show is indescribable, it's so amazing. They just released a teaser online of some of the second season and it looks so good
and so much of that is obviously the crew and the team behind it but just the location itself is gorgeous. - And you guys probably recreated because I remember when we left off, you guys had gone into Samaria and so I'm sure there's
some Samaritan scenes. - There's a lot, there's Samaria. It's funny because
anytime you say something people are so tuned in
that if you're like, and then there's this
area and they're like, "Ah, we know exactly what
stories coming up then." So I do have to be a little
cautious about what I say. - I get it. What was it like though, to be
in Utah for a couple of weeks filming just the first half of the season, where you filmed half the
season just all out of order because you guys are going to snack on first of the year
probably get back at it. - Yeah we're going to Texas next. So we'll be in Texas in
January, but filming in Utah. Well, first of all, the
logistical challenge and maybe nightmare that
was getting everyone to be able to film during
COVID cannot be overstated. Like they were working day and night trying to figure out how to get
everyone to be there filming and also be as safe as possible because... And they did a wonderful
job and we were all tested, you test before you go there, you test right when you get there. You stay in your hotel
room for a little bit and then we were tested at
least three times a week sometimes four times a week while filming, and then any background
actors were tested every day whenever they would come in. So that aspect was daunting at first but then they got into the rhythm of it and we were able to be safe and film. Cause some of those scenes, we're walking around a marketplace, there are 100 background
actors and it's like, you can't wear a mask when
the cameras are rolling so it was a challenge. But aside from the COVID
nature of everything, Utah is one of the most gorgeous
places I've ever been in. Provo, I would go once the
gym's closed and COVID land I had to totally switch
and just, I'm like, I guess I'm a runner now. So I can't live ways let me go run. And so I would run around
the neighborhoods in Provo and right at the foot of the Y mountain, and then it snowed one weekend so there was the white and red
and green on the mountains. It feels so special driving
into set and seeing that and then working on this. - Amazing. I was gonna say I would
imagine Jonathan was tempted to get into character and heal
people if they got COVID so. (Noah laughs) Cause I was sick when I
interviewed him I said, "Why don't you just get into character and heal me right now?" He's like, "No, it doesn't work that way." Where's your faith? He's awesome. So did you know any of the
cast members before filming? - I didn't know any of the casts before, which is funny cause now we
really are a little family and whenever you work that
intensely with the same people over a certain period of
time, you really are a group. And we're friends and
we get along very well which is a miracle in and of itself because you're talking
about like 20 actors so you just never know what
you're going to be dealing with, but we all really get along and I met one of the guys who's coming on to be one of the new disciples. We met at a film festival out here in LA. I was in a film that was
in a drive in screening for a festival and he was
good friends with my co-star, and he walked up to me. We're in masks at the
festival and he's like, "Hey man, I'm gonna be
on "The Chosen" with you. We're gonna be disciples together." And it was super cool to meet him before, maybe a month and a half
before we went and filmed. - He's not the guy that's
gonna betray you, is he? (Paul laughs) - I can't even say no because
it's like if I say no, it narrows it down. If I say yes, it clearly narrows it down. But I guess I can say, I
don't think he's the one who betrays us. - To say who they pick for Judas Iscariot. People get confused that there
were actually two Judases cause there's Judas, a brother of James and then there's Judas Iscariot. And there's so many
different Simons and Peters and it's like. - There's some definite like for the sake of narrative
clarity, there must be. We didn't even have that
scene in the first season right away where there's a
little James and then big James and we have that scene where he's like, ah two James's, what do we do about this? Because it can get confusing and so you wanna stay true
obviously to the source material, you don't want to be making stuff up but at the same time it
can be very confusing and you know what? We all do look similar. We have similar hair and beards it's helpful to be as clear as possible. - What was it like now, Eric
(indistinct) I know Eric, I don't know where you've been. Eric is one of the most
decorated actors of all time, he's from India and he plays Nicodemus. What has it been like just
to see him on the set? And were you in any of
the scenes with him? - I had a brief moment with him
where I lead him up to Jesus when they have their big sit
down meeting on the roof. First of all he is like the sweetest guy, loveliest, sweetest guy,
obviously unbelievably talented, but just human to human, so
wonderful to spend time with. And we were all at the
same hotels and stuff so even if we weren't working
with each other in scenes, we were around each other, we would have lunch together and stuff. And so him and I had a few days where I think we drove
to set together once and we hung out at lunch
and we had that scene and I was just asking him to
regale me with acting stories which he did, and they were wonderful. - You have to take advantage of that, you have to get advice, get mentored. - Yeah, and he's just a lovely, lovely guy and his work is amazing
as you see in the show. And he's had a long, long career and I think it's okay to say obviously I don't wanna
be telling his stories, but he's essentially had a semi retirement because he kind of wanted to
step away from the industry and he had a major lifestyle change, but then Dallas approached
him with the show and he wanted to be a part of it. So he came and hung out with us. He had a big RV that he came
in and it was just awesome. He was like living on
the road for a few years and just a really fascinating cool guy. - Like Willy Nelson - A little bit like Willie Nelson, yeah. - He doesn't fly (Noah laughs) faster or slower, I guess. His style that's cool. - But it's about the journey, man. - It's the climb, as we see- - It's the climb.
- That's cool. So music's obviously been
a big part of your life. I always like to ask people
cause you're younger, what was the first CD? I don't know that you bought a cassette. - Okay, so I definitely
did not buy a cassette but the first CD, although
it wasn't that far away from where I would have been, like they still sold cassettes
in gas stations I remember. - Right, right, those
were the comedy clubs, the blue collar comedy tours. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - 396 for the truckers. - My first album I ever
bought was No Doubt "Tragic Kingdom". That was the first album and I learned bass listening
to a lot of that album but then also, so it was No Doubt and then I started listening, oh, well, I went off into some strange
areas here, but No Doubt. One of my favorite bands still to this day that I listen to all the time was and is Rage Against the Machine. So rage was my jam, even
as a kid, like fourth grade Noah listening to rage. Yeah, exactly. And then Green Day, I have a
punk phase in middle school. That was my Green Day phase. I had a very brief stint into metal rock. I was listening to Korn
when I was in fifth grade. Oh, it was something, man. They was growling all in my
ears and I just loved it, tiny kid Noah loved it. And then I mellowed down
as I got to high school then I started listening to a lot of do you know Iron & Wine? - Iron & Wine's fantastic in fact- - So good. - My publicist rep them. - Oh yeah, that's fantastic. I saw them in concert once
and was totally blown away and yeah, listen to a lot of Iron & Wine, Death Cab For Cutie, going more
into indie acoustic kind of- - You're maturing. - I was maturing. - You're doing Bible movies now. (Noah laughs) No country music? - I never was a country guy. Arizona has a little bit
of a country soul to it and they love their cowboys out in Arizona but the music was never, it wasn't a big country scene out there, but I think Iron & Wine was as close getting into kind of folksy. I did listen to some more
bluegrassy type stuff around that time as well. I forget some of the names, but in that realm Calexico and Iron & Wine I think had an album together, - Trampoline Turtles, Mandolin Orange, these are fantastic bands. - I'll check them out,
I'll check them out. - Bonnie ever, obviously. - Yeah well he's in his
voice is just like magic in your ears so yeah. - One thing I like to
ask people at the end is, you've had some amazing
opportunities in your life. You've had some challenges because your parents got divorced that always is very difficult. What is the one thing in life that brings you the most amount of joy? And then after that, what is it that you hope to
accomplish in your lifetime so that when we're all gone and these are kind of deep
philosophical questions but you're doing Bible
stuff so I can ask this. When we're all gone 200 years from now what is it that you hope
people will remember that you left behind something you did? Or what is it you hope
people will remember your contribution to our world? - Wow, all right, let's take
that one step at a time. Okay, here we go. Well, first I will say that I don't wanna be
misrepresenting my childhood because, while yes my
parents were divorced, I did have a very lovely childhood and there was stability in, I'm sure that's a little bit of chaos, but there was there's stability there and I'm close with my
stepdad, my dad, my mom that's all cool. But of course there were
challenges growing up maybe that's why I was
listening to the Korn, but I would say what brings
me the most amount of joy in life, man, that is such
a fascinating question because I love celebrating humanity. It's why I will listen to classical music or go see Shakespeare or listen to EDM as I'm running as fast as I can. I just love the human spirit, I love what we were able to accomplish, and I love celebrating
that in a group of people. It's why COVID times have been so hard because even just if you take a concert, there's something so magical about music being performed on the stage and the rest of the audience
is there experiencing it in real time. It's not on your phone, it's
not on your TV, you're there and there is a spiritual
connection to everyone around you and to what's happening and that to me is why I love theater, I love doing plays, I love seeing plays that in and of itself the performing music
theater, anything like that, that is a celebration of humanity, and that to me gives me
the most amount of joy. It's a birthday party, it's
a wedding, it's a funeral, it's anything where you are
giving respect to the life, which includes suffering,
joy, pain, bliss, everything in between when
you are taking the moment to respect that and be in contact with it, be in connection with it. That gives me the most amount of joy. - I love that I was reading
the "Art Of Communication", I don't know if you've read it. - Yeah, yeah. I haven't read it, but I know of, yeah. - And what you're touching upon is you are totally associated right now because you find so much joy
in everything you're doing. It's so encouraging and exciting and it's what we all want to feel, an excitement for life
and a kudos to you, man. So nailed it 200 years from
now when it's all gone, though. - Okay, so the 200. Yeah, so that's a fascinating one, so to get back to that. - You have been with Jesus or you're living another
good life or whatever. - I know, that's a question
that will be with people until the end of time. And I think that if I were to say what I would like to leave in 200 years. There's the one hand, which is that my job which is also so much a
part of just who I am, my job as an actor is to tell stories. And so to me, the highest
mark of being able to do that is to really tell stories
that are impactful, mean something to people, change people's points
of view for the better and inspire empathy. Anything that I can do that
can help even tilt the scale more towards an empathic
version of this world, that to me, and it's a slow process, but however I can best help that even if it's being kind
to someone on the street or telling a story that
impacts someone very deeply, all of that I think is
super important to me. And so I don't think it's
so much about a name thing or an ego thing, or like
they must remember me. It's not so much that it's anything I think one of the things
that we're here to do is to make life better for
yourself, for those around you, for everyone who will come after. And if we all do that then the world's already pretty magical and we can get more and more. - That's beautiful, obviously
the work you're doing right now with "The Chosen", I've gotten countless people that have because I've shared these interviews, I've had people are
telling me all the time they didn't have a relationship with God, now they recognize they
need that higher power in their lives. So you guys are doing amazing work just in bringing more
meaning and purpose to people so they feel like someone
else as their back, they're not alone in the world and that's what's so beautiful. So you're in the process now of fulfilling what you have just stated. - Oh, well, thank you. - That's fantastic. So, Noah James, where can people find you if they're not watching "The Chosen" you have an Instagram account? - Sure, yeah. So on Instagram, it's @James_NoahJames that's where you can find me. - Do you have a website? - I do have a website,
NoahJamesprojects.com. And that's a website that
has a lot of my actor stuff what's going on recently and I also do a lot of voiceover, so that is kind of the place where my voiceover stuff resides, yeah. I am Noah James, I am the
narrator of "The Broken Miracle" which just released on Audible. It tells a story of Paul Cardall who is an internationally
acclaimed songwriter and pianist and how he was born with
half a functioning heart. And the story follows him as a child who required surgery immediately,
and then as an adult, sensing that his heart is
starting to give out on him. It interweaves these themes
of family, love, music, and just strength in the face
of the most dire of odds. It's a really, really beautiful story I can't wait for you all to hear it and let us know what you think. Dude, listen when all
this is over we need to... Listen, you will have to be carrying it because I won't be able
to play along with you, but we, at some point, we'll move to have a little jam session. - And I have friends who
are like really good players so we'll have to get together. - I'll hide in the
background and just be like, I'm flying a little. (Noah laughs) - It'll be good, I'll reach out to you when I'm out in LA and let's go grab lunch or something. - Definitely, I would love that. - Thank you so much for being on this, We're gonna paint this out on
American Songwriter Network and Noah and it's more
people watching your work so thank you for being here. - Thanks so much man,
thank you for having me. (upbeat music) - [Announcer] This is All
Heart with Paul Cardall.
