An inside look into the set of ‘The Chosen’
Midlothian, Texas, is a small city known for its cement industry, but it’s becoming more known for something else — as the home of the set for “The Chosen.”
The way to the set starts by driving through a picturesque downtown area, then the landscape shifts to rolling hills and wide-open fields. The road gets more narrow on the way to the set and then there’s a sign welcoming you to Camp Hoblitzelle.
The Salvation Army’s Camp Hoblitzelle sprawls across 1,200 acres and looks like the summer camp out of “The Parent Trap.” The hot Texas sun shines down on a lake (it’s the Sea of Galilee in the film) and the bustling marketplace from the series marks the first part of the set.
Camp Hoblitzelle is one of two sets “The Chosen” uses. The other set it uses is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is located in Goshen, Utah.
“The Chosen” invited media to a set visit earlier this summer. Here’s how it went.
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On the day of the set visit, the temperature climbed north of 90 degrees by noon. The cast and crew has become accustomed to working long days in the Texas sun. Katharine Warnock, vice president of original content at “The Chosen,” greeted the group of reporters before the tour began.
Producers joined the media in big vans to drive to the first part of the set — a 2-acre Biblical village (Capernaum) complete with a marketplace, first-century Jewish homes, a governor’s mansion, a cafe, a butcher shop, worship places, a Roman area with red and gold decor and other sections. The village houses dozens of different options for filming.
On the outskirts of the set, there’s a grove of trees set against rolling hills. It may be the spot where the Garden of Gethsemane is filmed, a crew member told me.
While walking through the set, producers pointed out minor details and explained no detail is too small to neglect. In the Roman sections, graffiti in Latin adorns the walls. When I asked a producer how they decided to use those particular phrases, he tells me they researched what graffiti would have been used during the first century.
“Talia te fallant utinam medacia, copo, tu vedes acuam et bibes ipse merum,” a wall reads, or in English, “If only similar deceit would fool you, innkeeper, you sell water and you drink the undiluted wine yourself.” It’s the review of an inn — the same graffiti that was scribbled on a wall in ancient Pompeii.
While the Roman sections are filled with graffiti as well as imagery of Neptune, different animals like rabbits and boars, the “main street” of the set is muted in colors, by contrast, but there was more than what meets the eye.
A producer pointed out the house of Zebedee. Later, Nick Shakoour, who plays Zebedee, told me the construction crew had written Bible verses on the walls of the house before painting it. Shakoour encountered God after a member of that same crew invited him to attend a Christian conference.
The Jerusalem synagogue is also a building where the crew wrote Bible verses on the walls before painting it.
After walking around the Biblical village, producers and media headed over to the soundstage — which is movie lingo for a soundproof building with sets in it.
It’s a 30,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art building. The producers brought media here to watch a scene being filmed and to look at the various stages.
I stepped alone into one of the stages and recognized it. It’s the place where Jesus (played by Jonathan Roumie) said “I am the law” in a clip that circulated on social media.
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The tour of the set ended with reporters watching a scene as it was being filmed. The cast and crew were working on completing Season Four at the time.
After the set tour, some members of the cast and crew were available for interviews. Here are some links to interviews already published:
Nick Shakoour, who plays Zebedee, talks about encountering God.
Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of the show, on who “the authentic Jesus” is.
Mark Sourian, former DreamWorks and Universal executive, on why he came to “The Chosen.”
