‘The Chosen’ cast and crew on Season 4: ‘very emotional’ and ‘a phenomenon’
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After months of anticipation, the release of Season 4 of “The Chosen” is finally on the horizon. The show has reached a critical point before the onset of the season.
The disciples have looked in shock and awe at Jesus (played by Jonathan Roumie) feeding thousands of people with five mere loaves of bread and two fishes. As a storm disrupted their travels, Jesus walked on water and calmed the storm.
But the audience knows what’s coming. Jesus is gaining followers and word of his ministry is spreading throughout Galilee. Something is about to change. “Season 4 is where it starts to turn,” the show’s creator Dallas Jenkins said.
Going off the show’s synopsis, it’s expected that Jesus will face an onslaught of opposition to his message. “The enemies of Jesus close in while his followers struggle to keep up, leaving him to carry the burden alone,” the synopsis said. “Threatened by the reality of Jesus’ growing influence, religious leaders do the unthinkable — ally with their Roman oppressors.”
If you’re planning on going to the theater to watch Season 4 (starting on Feb. 1), it might be time to follow Jenkins’ advice and “get out your tissues.”
“I won’t lie, Season 4 has as much sadness as joy,” Jenkins said in a Q&A sent to the Deseret News. “It starts with the death of John the Baptist, which shouldn’t be a big spoiler, and it ends with us much closer to Holy Week. One of the main things that Jesus finds sad is that his disciples seem to be focused on the wrong things, such as their place in the group, even while he’s trying to tell them what’s to come.”
Jesus’ emotional experiences are a significant part of the show.
“It’s easy to forget that in the Bible, Jesus tells the disciples he’s going to die multiple times. And for some reason, it doesn’t register,” Jenkins said. “They just keep saying, ‘OK, interesting, not sure what you mean, but can we get back to the conversation about who’s the most important in the group and where we all fit?’ We explore Jesus’ growing sadness that the human race just isn’t understanding his timeline or priority list.”
It’s not just Jenkins who has described the upcoming season as emotional.
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In an interview ahead of the season’s release, Noah James who plays Andrew, said this season was “certainly the most challenging.”
“I think that ‘The Chosen’ does a really good job of creating a space where people can feel that. People can look at their lives and say, ‘Maybe, I’m not handling things the way that I should be handling them’ or ‘How do I deal with questioning of issues of faith or issues of interpersonal relationships,’” James said. “This season is like, if you haven’t done that before, a punch in the face.”
James described the season as as journey that the viewers will take with the cast as their characters develop and face even more challenging situations.
Yasmine Al-Bustami, who plays Ramah, also echoed that the show is becoming more emotional. “Thank goodness for this bunch,” she said about her fellow castmates, “Because everyone feels so supportive. It’s only getting harder and more challenging and difficult because emotions are involved as well. It’s a lot of that. There’s still a lot of tension, but still some good humor. Thank goodness.”
Nick Shakoour, who plays Zebedee, said that his character feels like it was “downloaded to me from God.”
Speaking ahead of the Season 4 release, Shakoour said that he’s seen a kind of synergy happen on set. “You start reading (the script), you get into it, and all of a sudden, now you’re inspired by God in a completely new way. So, now you give this performance that they didn’t even expect. They watch that performance and now for the next episode or the next season, they’re writing in an inspired way that inspired them based on what you did.”
The show’s president of production, Mark Sourian, said that “The Chosen” is on the way to becoming something really special.
“I think it is becoming a phenomenon,” Sourian said. “I think it’s an opportunity for Dallas to continue to tell stories, biblical, historical dramas, whether they be series or movies, that he knows how to tell uniquely well, better than most any other director that I can think of.”
Al-Bustami said that she’s seen first-hand how the show has impacted people for the better.
“I was at the grocery store and a woman came up to me and she confirmed that I was the person who played Ramah,” Al-Bustami said, “And she instantly started tearing up and then she talked about the story of how she got reconnected with her sister and her mom because of ‘The Chosen.’”
