By Mallory Mattingly
Do you ever wonder how THE CHOSEN brings the first-century to life while filming in places like Texas and Utah? That’s thanks, in large part, to set designer James Cunningham, creator Dallas Jenkins’ college roommate.
“I used to be an actor in college, and the one thing I appreciated the most about a really good set is it brought me into the environment. We want the set to be like its own character,” Cunningham said in a recent video.
“From the very beginning, I wanted to create a world that everybody could feel like they were there,” he explained. “But we had to start small. We had hardly any budget, and we were filming in a little tiny reproduction town in Weatherford, Texas.”
Season 1 of THE CHOSEN begins in Capernaum, which Cunningham described as a place with “less color.” The only color on set was the tax collector’s station and some of the market booths
But despite the lack of color, it worked out in the show’s best interest.
“The way Dallas wanted to shoot the story — very intimate, very character-driven — and so we didn’t have to rely on spectacle at that point to kind of carry the story,” Cunningham said.
However, by Season 5, THE CHOSEN characters find themselves in Jerusalem, which means bigger and brighter sets.
“So the city, the backlot we had built — everything needs to scale up. Everything needs to feel bigger,” Cunningham explained. “The biggest challenge is building Pilate’s, which is a giant set, Phoebe’s house, which is another huge set, Caiaphus, and then we have the Garden of Gethsemane, which is a massive set.”
As well as being college roommates, Cunningham has been “the Designer on every project Dallas has done, and the main reason is exemplified in what Dallas has said about him a few times: ‘James is the hardest working person on any set he’s on.'”
Related: Here’s a Sneak Peek from THE CHOSEN’s Set
Production for THE CHOSEN Season 6 is currently underway, and while no official release date has been announced, the season’s finale will debut in theaters on March 12, 2027.
This season will focus on the crucifixion.
Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus, detailed the physical and emotional toll that portraying Christ’s sacrifice took on him.
“You’re on a cross,” Roumie said, per USA Today, last month. “You’re pretty much in nothing but a loin cloth, and the temperature drops at night. And for me, it’s an entering into Christ’s suffering in a way that has to go far enough for me personally to be believably authentic to an audience. So there’s a certain amount of communion in that suffering that I end up experiencing, because that’s the only way to do this job.”
Jenkins told CBN, “Season 6 is going to be the most devastating, obviously, season we’ve ever done.”
While fans will have to wait a little longer for Season 6, they can expect to see a powerful depiction of Christ’s sacrifice — and more of Cunningham’s incredible sets.
Read Next: Inside The BIGGEST TV Set Ever Built for The Chosen Season 5
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