By Kayla DeKraker
Jordan Ross opened up about how his role as Little James in the hit biblical series THE CHOSEN resonates with him personally.
“Little James has helped me so much in my own journey of discovering things about myself,” he said in a video posted to Instagram. “And it’s cool.”
He continued, “I’ve learned that me, Jordan, like I have a deep fear of abandonment. And things like that, I didn’t really — was never able to really put a label on. But the longer I’ve played Little James…the more I’ve gotten to explore these parts of me that I’ve tried to hide for so long.”
Ross shared that the role of Little James “forced” him to “put them on display,” and said, “it’s shown me how talking about the things we’re insecure about kind of takes the power away from them and gives it back to yourself.”
Related: How God Is Changing Lives on THE CHOSEN Set
The actor said that learning to love himself despite his insecurities has been really healing.
“It’s been fun now going back after kind of, not just coming to terms with some of my own insecurities but learning to love the things I used to hate about myself. And now going to Little James’s past and allowing that to inform what he was going through has been really cathartic,” he said, adding “there’s so many parallels between Little James’s story and my own personal story. So yeah, it’s been really therapeutic for me.”
People in the comment section appreciated Ross’s vulnerability.
“Little James is such a beautiful character. Thanks for your artistry in bringing him to life,” one person said.
Another person commented, “I cried watch[ing] Jesus’ conversation with little James because it helped me to embrace and appreciate my long suffering. I never realized that when people see all that I’ve experienced and still praise God that it showed others how to be obedient and to continue to trust in God even when the picture is never perfect.”
Ross’s story is one that does resonate with his character. Ross suffers from cerebral palsy and scoliosis in real life, and his character embodies his real-life physical challenges with a limp. In one touching yet controversial scene in season three, he asks Jesus to heal him in an emotional moment, where Jesus shares his even greater purpose in not healing him.
Isaiah 61:3 tells us that God desires to “bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
Ross’s story is a beautiful reminder that whatever unhealed “ashes” we have in our lives, God still desires to create a beautiful story and testimony through us.
Read Next: How God Prepared Jonathan Roumie for His Role on THE CHOSEN
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