Chosen
The Chosen is an American Christian historical drama television series created, directed, and co-written by filmmaker Dallas Jenkins, built around the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as depicted in the Gospels. The series made history as the first multi-season dramatic production focused on the life of Jesus, distinguishing itself from earlier single-film or miniseries treatments of the subject.[1] Financed through an unconventional crowd-funded model rather than traditional studio backing, the show built a substantial Christian fan base before expanding into mainstream audiences, eventually streaming on major platforms and screening in theaters around the world.[2] As of its later seasons, production has taken the series from its original filming locations in Texas to international settings, including southern Italy, to capture pivotal moments in the narrative.[3]
Background and Creation
Dallas Jenkins had worked in faith-based filmmaking for years before conceiving The Chosen, yet the scale and reception of the project surpassed anything in his prior experience.[4] The series emerged from a desire to present the figures of the New Testament as fully realized human beings existing within the social, cultural, and political world of first-century Judea, rather than as idealized archetypes. Jenkins took on the roles of creator, director, and co-writer, shepherding the production from its earliest crowd-funded origins through multiple seasons of expanding scope and ambition.
The crowd-funding approach was central to the identity of The Chosen from the beginning. Rather than seeking conventional network or studio financing, Jenkins and his team turned directly to audiences sympathetic to the project's religious subject matter. This model allowed the production to sidestep some of the commercial compromises that often shape faith-based content distributed through mainstream channels, while still needing to meet the expectations of an audience that had invested financially as well as emotionally in the outcome.[5] The resulting financial structure gave the production an unusual degree of independence and helped cultivate the sense among viewers that they were participants in the project rather than passive consumers.
Premise and Format
The Chosen presents the life of Jesus of Nazareth across multiple seasons, each covering different periods of his ministry as recorded in the Gospels. The structure of a long-form television series, as opposed to a single feature film, allows the show to develop secondary characters — apostles, followers, Roman officials, and ordinary residents of Galilee and Judea — with a depth that shorter formats cannot accommodate. This approach was a deliberate creative choice, intended to make familiar biblical figures feel grounded and accessible to contemporary audiences without departing from the broad outlines of the scriptural record.
The series is notable for being the first multi-season dramatic treatment of the life of Jesus, a distinction that has been cited as central to its cultural impact.[6] Prior productions depicting Jesus had generally taken the form of feature films or limited miniseries, leaving little room for the kind of sustained character development that The Chosen attempts. By committing to an open-ended multi-season format, the production made a significant structural bet on the depth of its audience's engagement — a bet that the series' reception has largely validated.
Cast and Lead Performance
The central performance in The Chosen is delivered by Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus across all seasons of the series. Roumie, who was fifty years old during the production of later seasons, has spoken publicly about approaching the role as an act of personal religious faith rather than purely as a professional acting assignment.[7] The weight of portraying a figure regarded by billions of people as the Son of God has made Roumie's casting and performance a subject of significant attention both within religious communities and in broader entertainment coverage.
Roumie's interpretation of Jesus in The Chosen has drawn commentary for emphasizing the humanity and relatability of the character alongside more traditional depictions of spiritual authority. This balance has been identified as a key element in the series' ability to connect with viewers who might be skeptical of more overtly reverent portrayals of Jesus in previous film and television productions. The performance has helped the show reach audiences beyond committed Christians, contributing to its crossover into more mainstream viewership.[8]
Production and Filming Locations
The early seasons of The Chosen were filmed primarily in Texas, where landscapes and constructed sets were used to approximate the terrain of the ancient Middle East. As the production grew in scale and ambition, the locations expanded accordingly. The filming of the crucifixion sequence, among the most dramatically and theologically significant events in the Gospel narrative, required a shift in setting that the Texas locations could not adequately provide.
For this sequence, the production relocated to Matera, a city in the southern region of Italy known for its ancient cave dwellings and rugged stone architecture. Matera's distinctive landscape, which has served as a stand-in for ancient Jerusalem in other major productions, offered the visual texture and historical resonance that the production required for what creators described as the climax of the series' narrative arc.[9] The decision to travel internationally for this sequence reflected the increasing resources available to the production as it accumulated a larger and more financially engaged audience.
Seasons and Story Arc
The Chosen has proceeded through multiple seasons, each advancing the story of Jesus' ministry and moving toward the events of the Passion narrative. Season 5 of the series, which covers the days immediately leading up to the crucifixion, was described by creator Dallas Jenkins as the most intense and emotionally demanding season of the production to date.[10] Jenkins characterized the season as carrying a weight that distinguished it from all previous installments, a reflection of the gravity of the events being depicted.
Season 6, which covers the crucifixion itself, was made available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video in June of its release year.[11] The movement of the series onto a major commercial streaming platform represented a significant development in the show's distribution history, bringing it within reach of audiences who had not encountered it through the dedicated app the show originally used for distribution. Jonathan Roumie's involvement in Season 6 continued the performance arc he had sustained across all prior installments of the series.
Audience and Cultural Impact
The Chosen achieved its initial success by cultivating a deeply engaged Christian audience that treated the series not merely as entertainment but as a vehicle for religious reflection and community. This base of viewers proved willing to support the production financially through the crowd-funding model and to promote it through word of mouth within churches, faith communities, and social networks. The result was a show that built meaningful momentum outside the conventional machinery of entertainment industry marketing.[12]
As the series continued and its production values increased, it began attracting viewers with no particular prior investment in Christian media. The crossover appeal of The Chosen has been attributed to a combination of factors: the quality of the performances, the emphasis on character-driven storytelling, and the willingness to present familiar biblical figures in ways that feel emotionally credible rather than ceremonially distant. The show's arrival on mainstream streaming platforms accelerated this process, exposing it to viewers who might not have sought it out independently.[13]
The series has also been screened in theaters, adding a communal viewing dimension that reinforced its sense of being a shared cultural event within the communities most invested in its success. Theater screenings have allowed congregations and faith groups to experience the series together, extending its reach beyond the individual streaming context that governs most television consumption.
Distribution
The Chosen has been distributed through several channels over the course of its run. The series initially reached viewers primarily through a dedicated streaming application, a model consistent with its crowd-funded origins and its direct relationship with its core audience. As the production grew, distribution partnerships with larger platforms expanded its availability. The arrangement with Amazon Prime Video for Season 6 placed the series within a major commercial streaming ecosystem for the first time, a milestone in its transition from a faith-specific media property toward a more broadly accessible dramatic series.[14]
Theater distribution has complemented the streaming model, with Cinemark and other cinema operators participating in screenings that have brought episodes and season premieres to audiences in a communal setting. This hybrid distribution approach has been part of what distinguishes The Chosen from both conventional broadcast television and standard streaming productions.[15]