The ChosenIn the skin of the apostles and the holy womenThe Chosen. Narrating "the real Jesus".It has become a global phenomenon on a scale that neither the director nor the actors could have imagined when they began filming. The Chosen (The Chosen Ones). This series about Jesus of Nazareth and his first followers has made history in audiovisual production, due to the crowdfunding of the 26 episodes of its first three seasons - 8 conventional episodes in each one plus two Christmas specials - and also due to its 420 million views on the Internet in more than 140 countries and in 56 languages.
Jerónimo José Martín and José María Aresté, authors of this interview, were able to share, last August, days of filming and interviews in Midlothian, Texas, the production "base camp" of the series, created by Dallas Jenkins, a 47-year-old evangelical Christian, married since 1998 to writer and teacher Amanda Jenkins, and father of four children, the last of them adopted.
Jonathan Roumie plays Jesus. Aged 48, he is the son of an Egyptian father and Irish mother. Roumie was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, but converted to Catholicism when he moved from New York to the surrounding area. He has appeared in several TV series, dubbed several video games, scouted locations for blockbusters such as Spider-Man, The Quest and I Am Legend, and even recorded an original song, Outta Time, released in Europe for the album Unbreakable, which he co-produced.
Roumie has previously played Christ in a traveling multimedia project on the life of St. Faustina, entitled Faustina: Messenger of Divine Mercy, and also in Once we were Slaves / The Two Thieves. Roumie is also co-producer, co-director and lead actor in The Last Days: The Passion and Death of Jesus, a live performance of the Passion of Christ. In addition, the actor has been an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion within the Catholic Church, and is vice chairman on the boards of two non-profit companies: Catholics in Media Associates and GK Chesterton Theatre Company. Roumie has lived in Los Angeles since 2009, and in 2020 was nominated for the title of papal knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
We have been told that you speak a little Spanish.ol...
- A little bit. Very little. But we will manage...
And we managed very well in English, which, for our part, is clearly improvable...
At The Chosen there are many interesting characters, but obviously yours is the most interesting.s diffIt is difficult to play and a challenge for any actor.Cow do you prepare to incarnate Jesus Christ?s of Nazareth?
- First of all, thank you for joining us. To interpret Jesus I always start by praying, reading and meditating on the Gospels and, as a Catholic, going to Mass, participating in it and in the other sacraments, and filling myself with that spirit. And then reading other books about the historical aspects of Jesus, about the social, political and economic context of first century Judea, and trying to document myself about the Judaism of that time and the traditions of the rabbis. In the series we have access to several experts in those fields, who help us to understand more in depth how these people must have lived in the first century. It's great. But I always start by praying...
HTell us about the evolution of your Jesus in this third season.
- In this third season, Jesus goes a step further. He begins to attract attention, the Pharisees begin to notice him and think: "Let's see if Jesus is going to be a problem". Last year we talked about stirring up the hornet's nest. This year he is not going to stir it up, he is going to go much further. We see that among the disciples there is beginning to be more confrontations, and Jesus has to control them and make sure they understand why he does what he does.
All aspects of the series go up a notch. Since several episodes are going to be shown in theaters, everything is much more cinematic and epic. People are going to be blown away by this third season. It's going to be fantastic. I can't wait for people to see it.
We would like to ask you about the humanity of Christ. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is both God and man. And perhaps one of the most original things about the series is the sense of humor, the jokes, the funny moments, and the humor of the series.micos...
- Yes. The Chosen (The Chosen) differs from other portraits of Jesus in that it allows his more human aspects to come to light. The human experience would not be complete without laughing, without crying, without winking an eye from time to time. That is what it is to be human. It's human reactions and behaviors. People joke. Jesus was not exempt from that part of humanity. He was fully human and fully divine.
And what is it to be fully human?
- Because we can afford to shoot quite a few episodes over several seasons, we can develop that part and show the audience the details of that humanity that he may have had. I think that has been the secret ingredient to the success of the series. People want to know what Jesus might have been like, and until now we haven't seen that. I am lucky, blessed and honored to be the actor to convey that image to them. And the impact has been enormous. The public response has been great, incredible.
¿Cow is this work influencing you on a personal level?
- Mostly it's influencing me through the impact the series is having on people's lives. The most impactful story I remember right now is of a young woman I met last year. I think she was 19 or 20 years old. She told me what her life was like a year earlier. She was severely depressed, so much so that she was going to commit suicide by hanging herself in her parents' house. He even had a goodbye note written. And someone, I think one of her friends, convinced her not to do it and put an episode of The Chosen (The Chosen), perhaps the first. And that episode moved her so much, that new vision of Jesus was such a great change for her, that she felt that her life was worth something, that God loved her and had a place in the world for her. And she decided not to kill herself. A year later she told me about it. Her family was with her. We all cried. About a month ago I spoke with the father and he told me that this girl is now working with other young people who are suffering from depression or who need psychological care. She is helping them to overcome their own problems. Her life is different. The series has changed her life completely. Just by having that impact on one person, it was worth it.
¿Qué les dirWhat would you do to encourage potential viewers, both Christians and non-believers, to watch the series? Because the Christian may think, "I already know this. I don't need to watch it again. And the non-believer may think: "I'm not interested in this"..
- I think I would quote one of the phrases from the series: "Come and see". There was a documentary recently made about Generation Z. They took nine kids from that generation, put them in a room, didn't tell them what they were going to see and they showed them the first season of our series. And the reaction of those kids... Many of them had had bad experiences in the past with churches of one kind or another. But watching the series opened up other possibilities for them. They saw that God, Jesus and faith didn't have to be tied to that negative experience, that building or that particular community, but that God is much more than a building, or more than one particular denomination over another. And it was because they found entertaining a television series that shows Jesus and his disciples as they had not imagined them before.
I think this series has the ability to influence people in ways they didn't know they needed. That's the real gift. People come and watch. In fact, if you download the app, you can watch the documentary I tell you, and see those reactions and the interactions I had with a couple of those guys.
And with respect to non-believers, agnóatheists, atheists...?
- The series is for everyone. We've gotten messages from people with no religion, from the most devout Christians... We even got a message from a guy who claims to be a devotee of the Church of Satan. He said something like this: "I love the series! I don't believe what happens in it, but I love the series itself". For me, that's a start. That's something.
If God, with a series, can reach a person who would never in a million years identify with something like that and that person says he likes it... If that happens, anything is possible.
The Chosen, the female figure in The Chosen
We like that in The Chosen women have relevant roles.
Certainly, we have very powerful female characters in the series. In fact, many of the most memorable lines are spoken by women. And women were very influential in Jesus' ministry. He revealed himself publicly as the Messiah to a woman. The first person he revealed himself to after the resurrection was Mary Magdalene. I believe Jesus empowered women at a time when the culture did not. For that culture, women were secondary, and Jesus gave them prominence even though they had no role in society or in the priestly ministry. For example, the woman of Samaria. Jesus chose to reveal his identity to a Samaritan woman. The Samaritans, at that time, went to the killing with the Jews. And yet, he seeks out this woman and reveals to her his role, his mission. To her, who is a woman. Jesus' ministry gives prominence to women. The series has emphasized many of these examples and will continue to do so.
HTell us about a specific woman. Your mother, the Virgin Mary. Who, by the way, you have on your back (I was wearing a white T-shirt with a modern recreation of the Virgin of Guadalupe).
You mean this one, don't you? Right. It's the Virgin of Guadalupe. Well, she is the mother of all mankind. When Jesus was on the cross, he entrusted his mother to his disciple John. To all mankind, in fact.
What about the scenes in the series with your mother?
- The actress who plays Maria is called Vanessa Benavente. And well... Wait until you see the third season... With some of our scenes together from the third season you'll be left with... Vanessa is great. Bue-ní-si-ma. I love working with her. I don't have to do any acting, I just look at her and think of my mother. Besides, she and my mother are about the same size.
In the first season, at the wedding at Cana, the first time I see her, I hug her, I lift her up and I give her a twirl, like this [she makes the gesture]. It's something I usually do with my mother. I asked Dallas if it was okay with her, and she said yes. So we did it. Rolling with her is a breeze.
¿Chat is Dallas Jenkins like as a director, especially with you?
- Fantastic. He's one of the most collaborative directors I've ever worked with. He's great.
¿Cuhat is your favorite scene from the first two seasons of the series?
- That meeting with my mother in Cana -which we have discussed- is one of my favorite scenes. Usually, they are scenes that I share with actors with whom I get along very well. Also the scenes with Mary Magdalene are among my favorites.
If I had to choose one, perhaps I would choose the first appearance of Jesus with Mary Magdalene. I think it's a great way to introduce Jesus - in a bar, no less! And then, how he follows Mary Magdalene.
When I see her, it's like I'm seeing another actor. It's like it's not me. But it gets to me anyway. I don't quite understand it. There's something mystical about it. And I think it's because of the truth of what happens in the scene and what it means. That God can redeem anyone who seeks redemption. That's the strength of that scene. That's why it's a fan favorite from the beginning.
"The Chosen" in Spain
The distributor A Contracorriente has made a strong commitment to the series. They have undertaken the dubbing of the series into Spanish, something that all the fans were demanding and, in addition to the original subtitled version, the first season of the series can now also be seen dubbed on the AContra+ channel, and is scheduled for release on DVD and Blu-ray on November 29.
In addition, there will be limited exclusive releases in Spanish theaters, following in the wake of the United States: its first season can be seen in Spanish theaters in a premiere that will be divided into three parts: December 2, The Chosen: I've called you by your name (pilot and episodes 1 and 2); December 9, The Chosen: The stone on which it is built (episodes 3, 4 and 5) and on December 16th The Chosen: Indescribable Compassion (episodes 6, 7 and 8).
The Chosen is the first multi-season film adaptation of the life of Jesus. A series that will be offered in 7 seasons, with over 50 episodes, and is entirely donor-funded.
This is the largest crowdfunding in the history of audiovisual productions: for the first season, more than 19,000 people donated $11 million, and for the second and third seasons (now in post-production) more than $40 million has been raised.
Over the course of its first two seasons, the series has received critical and public acclaim for its historical and biblical accuracy and playful spirit, and for being a heartwarming drama with touches of genuine humor and a great impact.
It is also backed by several awards, such as the Most Inspiring Performance on Television at the MovieGuide Awards for Jonathan Roumie, or the Film & TV Impact Award at the K-Love Fan Awards. In Spain, it won the award for Best Series on Religion at the XXVII Alfa y Omega 2022 Awards.
