When reading the bible, do you ever imagine any of the 12 disciples cracking a joke?
Well, you can expect that and so much more from the popular biblical series, The Chosen. Starting out as a crowdfunded project with supporters raising 11 million dollars in funding, the series has become a global success, reaching over 800 million views from 175 countries.
The popular series has made a supporter out of stars like Whoopi Goldberg who discussed her love for the series on The View.
“I am a huge fan of the series, The Chosen, which shows the humanity of Jesus in a way we haven’t seen before, and highlights him and the apostles in a different way.”
The historical series – based on the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John –follows the life and journey of Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples as he navigates life under Roman rule and oppression. While the series was not created to replace the bible, the very first episode features a disclaimer revealing the show’s inclusion of additional backstories and characters and the condensation and combination of certain locations and timelines.
All in all, the series brings life to well-known characters in the holy book, inspiring many to explore –or return to– Christianity.
From its start in 2019, The Chosen has released four successful seasons, and it’s returning for its fifth season, The Last Supper, which focuses on arguably the most eventful time period in the bible: Holy Week.
BOSSIP sat down with the series’ creator, writer, and showrunner Dallas Jenkins about creating biblical personalities, the series’ crowdfunding journey, and so much more.
Dallas Jenkins Talks The Chosen Season 5
Tackling biblical stories is no easy feat, but Jenkins managed to do it while also humanizing each character’s interesting personalities, senses of humor, and characteristics, like Jesus’ disciple Matthew being on the Autism spectrum.
Jenkins spoke to BOSSIP about the ways in which he illustrated each character’s personality.
“When you read the Bible and when you look at stained glass windows and you see statues and you see paintings and even sometimes biblical projects that are movies or television, they don’t feel human,I’m like this feels like I’m watching a 1st century presented formal project ” Jenkins said. “We know that these were human beings and we know that even Jesus, the son of God with a human being, how do we reveal that humanity that was there? There’s been a veil sometimes between us and the authentic Jesus and his followers, and even his enemies, we turn them into cartoon characters or cardboard cutouts.”
Jenkins uses his skill as a writer and showrunner to fill in the gaps and present well-rounded characters to the show.
“Our job is to bring them off the stained glass window and to [do] what we would consider to be the most a reality that you can capture in television, maybe you can’t capture in other forms of media,” Jenkins told BOSSIP. “We just start with the stories and the Gospels and we say, ‘What would be the context of this culturally, historically and yes, human context that we don’t see?’ On these pages, we know what was there. And so we’re just trying to tell the most honest story we can about the fact that these were actual human beings.”
Whatever Jenkins is cooking is working because of the show’s HUGE following and fan base, whose belief in the series helped fund its start. Jenkins appreciates the process; he wants to remain authentic in his storytelling.
“It’s a beautiful thing to witness, and it’s also cool when we see people who aren’t believers who just love the show with the historical drama and feel like they’re learning some things that they hadn’t before,” the director said. “I would say that if I start thinking about that too much while I’m writing or directing, I’m thinking how do I get more people to like the show or like me, or how do I avoid criticism? Or how do I get a bunch of TikTok people saying all these wonderful things about the show would be crippling,” he continued. “So yes, the show started small, but where there’s one person watching, 1000 people watching, or now– over 100 million people watching, the work is the same. I’m still on the laptop, on my couch, trying to be as faithful to God and to the character of the gospel as possible while writing a show that anyone can enjoy and inspire.”
The Chosen: Last Supper premieres in theaters today, March 28, and will stream on Prime Video in June 2025.
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Content shared from bossip.com.