By Gavin Boyle
Dallas Jenkins explained how working through the stories of Jesus’ life on THE CHOSEN teaches him new things about Christ, despite him already knowing the story extremely well.
“When you’re doing a show about Jesus, when your job is to kind of recreate, slash portray, slash illuminate and put a spotlight on things that happened 2,000 years ago, stories that we all know and love, you really wanna make sure you know the stories and understand them, obviously,” Jenkins told Annie F. Downs’ “That Sounds Fun” podcast. “And I always learn a little bit more than I normally do about the story itself. And I’ll usually see something in the scripture that I’m like, oh my gosh, I forgot that that was in there.”
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Related: Dallas Jenkins Cracks Down on CHOSEN Critics: ‘I Need to Stop Hearing This’
For season six, the most surprising part for Jenkins to tackle was the moments that Jesus is actually on the cross because the Bible only records six things he said prior to his death, even though he was on the cross for multiple hours. This part of the story, however, is one of the climaxes of the entire series, so it could not take up only a few moments on screen.
Jenkins explained that while writing the scenes where Jesus is on the cross, he had to keep in mind the fact that there were many people there to witness Jesus’ death including the two thieves next to Jesus, his women followers and John the Apostle, and the Roman guards keeping watch. Jenkins and his team also had to consider the fact that they have been criticized in the past for writing things into the show that the Bible never mentions – even though they are completely in line with Jesus’ character.
“While I’m somewhat surprised that the concept of Jesus saying the words ‘I’ll pray for you’ are controversial, I’m not actually that surprised that something like this comes up because it’s a sensitive topic,” Jenkins said in response to criticism over a scene where Jesus asked to pray for Judas. “… if Jesus could pray for unbelievers while they were crucifying Him, it seems that Jesus could pray for Judas even while Judas was planning to betray Him.”
The result of these scenes, both in the past and in the upcoming seasons, has been extremely impactful and the cast of the show has warned that season six has been the most intense one yet as they portray the death of Jesus on the cross.
“Well..there’s not much I can physically say at this point. Not because we’re under NDA’s (we are), but rather, because I have been rendered utterly speechless through this experience in so many ways,” Jonathan Roumie said. “I have witnessed many members of my cast and crew emotionally leveled much in the same way I have been. The grace is that we have been lifting each other up throughout, and I couldn’t feel more blessed.”
It is truly incredible that even after working on the show for six-plus years as well as being a lifelong Christian, Jesus’ story still has more to teach Jenkins as he continues working to bring THE CHOSEN to life.
Read Next: Dallas Jenkins Explains How God Used His Past to Prepare Him for THE CHOSEN
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