00:00Your Bible has not changed since The Chosen was released.
00:04We are not adding to scripture because we're not scripture.
00:07My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you make it a den of thieves!
00:12The table is being set for the fifth season of Dallas Jenkins' hit series, The Chosen.
00:17The historical drama's latest season, titled The Last Supper,
00:21will capture the events of Holy Week and the final days of Jesus Christ leading up to his crucifixion.
00:26Ahead of its theatrical run, the cast, Anne Jenkins, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about filming their runaway hit
00:32and what they call their most intense season yet.
00:35When people watch The Chosen, they say, oh wow, these are not stained glass windows.
00:40These are not paintings. These are not statues. These are human beings.
00:43And that is resonating with people. They can put themselves into the story.
00:47They can connect with the people in a way that perhaps they haven't always been able to.
00:51Do you feel any pressure, their expectations, when it comes to portraying such a wholly renowned figure?
00:59Yeah.
00:59And do you feel like people hold you to a higher standard at certain times?
01:03Early on, I felt there was a moment filming the middle of our first season where I felt overwhelmed
01:11because I suddenly became self-aware in the middle of filming a scene.
01:15I sort of paused our production for a moment to just pull our director, Dallas, aside
01:21and just say, can we just slow down? And he said, what's wrong?
01:23I said, I'm feeling like I'm not worthy to be saying these words.
01:27Like, I just, I'm a bit overwhelmed.
01:29And he said, look, brother, none of us are worthy to be doing this and to be, you know,
01:36trying to control the magnitude of this story.
01:41But we're in this together so that more people may learn about this story.
01:47Growing up, there's certain, you hear like women from the Bible and you think they're all saints
01:51and you think they're all very holy.
01:54She's struggling with alcohol addiction and suicidal ideation and she's going through so, so much.
02:01And those are all very modern and relatable to many experiences.
02:08And so I was most surprised by the way these first century characters are brought into today's society
02:19and we can see ourselves in them.
02:21Elsewhere, the series has come under some scrutiny.
02:24For not always being biblically accurate.
02:27Yeah, well, we occasionally get criticism by some people who just don't believe that it's okay
02:31to ever portray anything that isn't directly from Scripture.
02:36And so because Christians believe that the Bible is perfect and it's God's Word,
02:41and I happen to believe that myself,
02:43that when you're portraying something that's from the Bible,
02:46if you add anything that isn't directly from Scripture,
02:50then now you are messing with sacred God's Word, right?
02:55Now, I'm someone who happens to believe in the Bible and believe that it's God's Word.
02:58I also happen to know that my show is not the Bible.
03:02Your Bible has not changed since The Chosen was released.
03:06We are not adding to Scripture because we're not Scripture.
03:09We are a television show that uses the Bible as our primary source of truth and inspiration,
03:15but we also use historical context, cultural context,
03:19and yes, some human imagination, some artistic imagination.
03:23And so I'm not too worried about the criticism
03:25as long as I believe that what I'm doing does not contradict
03:29the character or intentions of Jesus in the Gospels.
03:32With such a loyal audience for the series,
03:35the cast also discussed their most touching and memorable fan interactions.
03:39I had a supporter come tell me in Portuguese,
03:42you know, thank you for giving a term autism to the way you play Matthew,
03:48loosely paraphrasing what she said.
03:51But basically it was that they didn't even know that there was a term for autism.
03:55They didn't know the word, they just knew the behavior.
03:57So they're learning from the show about that
04:00and learning how to, you know, learning through Matthew's journey
04:02and how he communicates and passing it on to how they communicate to their loved ones.
04:07So that was like a very touching memory.
04:10Every reaction is different, completely unique,
04:13and completely different than the other, you know what I mean?
04:16I feel it touches people in such different ways that it never repeats itself.
04:22I heard you've gotten marriage proposals.
04:25People have asked if you could officiate their wedding.
04:28I mean, some wild interactions there.
04:29The craziest one was finding out that a woman in Brazil had named her child after myself and Dallas.
04:41Jonathan Dallas was simply the baby's first and middle name.
04:45So I'm looking forward to meeting my namesake child somewhere in Brazil at some point.
04:52I think that'll be pretty wild.
04:54Absolutely season six, a walk-on cameo with Jonathan Dallas.
04:58Make it happen.
05:00Listen, I think we might be able to ask around.
05:03I think we might be able to find this person.
05:05All to you, scribes and Pharisees!
05:07Stop this at once!
05:09The world is changing, and Jesus offers a vision to redeem it.
05:13He's loved the Messiah!
05:15Tell him that God's gonna get you down.
05:17The Chosen, The Last Supper Part 1 is out now in select theaters.
05:21For more on this story, head to THR.com.
05:24And for the latest entertainment news and updates, keep watching The Hollywood Reporter News.
05:29!
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