5 Questions for Dallas Jenkins about ‘The Chosen’ Season 6 and New Projects

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In just a few short years, filmmaker Dallas Jenkins has gone from a relatively unknown creator hoping for a breakout hit to an award-winning director whose main project – The Chosen – has become one of the most popular streaming series in the world.

That success has enabled Jenkins and 5&2 Studios to launch additional projects, including the hit film The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and the new animated series The Chosen Adventures.

Crosswalk recently spoke with Jenkins. Here are five questions we asked him – along with his answers.

Crosswalk: Many people have been surprised at the popularity of The Chosen on both the Left and the Right – and how people who would not agree on much agree on The Chosen. Why is it that people who couldn’t talk about anything for five minutes in a room are captivated by The Chosen?

Dallas Jenkins: I think there's two things. One, there's a humanity to the portrayals in the show that, for some reason, hasn't really happened much in biblical media before. A lot of times we see these people as biblical figures, religious figures, icons, stained-glass windows, statues, paintings – not as human beings. And for whatever reason, The Chosen, in leaning into the humanity of these people, including the humanity of Jesus, has cracked the code for a lot of people and allowed them to be open to this story. But that brings me to the second thing, which is that Jesus came during a time when everyone was all about politics and tribalism like they are today. And so the times that we're facing today are similar to the times that Jesus came to earth. And I think that the answer is that politics aren't going to save you, tribalism isn't going to save you, holding on to your culture at the expense of all other cultures is not ultimately going to save you.

Also, I'm cheating a little bit. This isn't my story. It's not like I came up with this. I'm drafting off of the greatest story ever told.

Crosswalk: The Chosen’s social media team released a video that went viral showing the cast and crew on the set of Season 6 overcome with emotion, and it actually showed you walking off set, your wife walking toward you. You guys hugged. What was it like filming those scenes, and what made it so hard?

Jenkins: I was emptied out. We were filming, you know, Jesus being raised up onto the cross. Jonathan [Roumie], as Jesus, was emotionally and physically spent, yelling and screaming. And the actresses and all are weeping and I'm away from home, and we're rushed and we're hot, and we're just in this foreign environment [Italy], and the crew isn't speaking English – and all of these factors were just so isolating in so many ways. Most of this season was like that. It forced us to bond. We called it trauma bonding through most of the season. But when you're filming the crucifixion, when you're filming the scourging of Christ, when you're filming His walk through the streets of Jerusalem, carrying a heavy cross and collapsing and bleeding and all of this – we know that it's just a show. We know that it's not actually real. We know that Jonathan isn't actually Jesus, and he's not actually being tortured at the level that Jesus was. But these are your friends that we’re watching. When Jonathan showed up for the first time on set with the crown of thorns on his head, and blood streaming down his face and his body brutalized – It's hard to look at. And that’s my friend. That's someone I've been working with for years. You're also feeling the weight of a story that happened 2,000 years ago but is still changing people's lives all over the world. It's brutal to do, and it wasn't fun. And I think that's actually how God wanted it. I think this season was meant to be a bit of a sacrifice, to give us a little bit of a taste – a miniscule taste – of the suffering and sacrifice that Season 6 is about. I do think [Season 6] is going to impact people all over the world in a way that this story should.

Crosswalk: When future generations look back on The Chosen – let's say, 30 years from now – what do you hope that they remember about it?

Jenkins: Well, my hope, ultimately, is that seeing Jesus through the eyes of those who actually met Him can change and impact you in the same way that they were changed and impacted. I'm hoping that 30 years from now, people are still experiencing that. They're going, ‘Okay, the stories of the people that met Jesus – the questions, the struggles that they faced – are the same that I'm facing today, and the answer to those questions and those struggles is the same today that it was 2,000 years ago.’ So for me, it's less about ‘what do they think about The Chosen? – and more about ‘what do they think about God?’ And hopefully The Chosen had a hand in that.

Crosswalk: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which you directed and which was a hit movie in 2024, is now out on home video. Why did that story have such an impact on you?

Jenkins: Barbara Robinson wrote this book back in the 70s, and it has been a classic for so many years, and it was read in public schools. That's where I first was introduced to it. I think it was in those like Scholastic [flyers] where you could order books, and sometimes the teachers would read it to us. I remember seeing a shorter film back in the 80s that was based on it. When I read the book to my kids 20 years ago when they were young, I hadn't remembered all the story all the way through, but I was reading it, and I'm going, ‘This is extraordinary,’ – because it's such a clear Jesus story, and yet it's almost like a Trojan horse. It’s in the form of this funny, witty Christmas story, and it comes out completely unexpected because it's told through the eyes of these six awful children from the wrong side of the tracks, and it's whimsical and witty. And then when I got to the last chapter, I'm reading this book to my kids, and I am crying so hard I can't even see the pages. I can't even read. And my wife is like, ‘Oh, give me the book. I'll read it.’ She starts reading. She's crying.

The concept is that these kids who are poor and unruly, that it's because of their poverty and because of their struggle, that they're actually closer to the heart of God than these other people who are living in their kind of comfortable, safe lives, and who've experienced the Christmas pageants every year, and they're used to it, and they're rejecting these kids. They don't even want them in church.

Jesus was born into poverty, [and] Jesus actually spoke about the least of these and those who struggle – man, that concept is something that I think all of us need to be reminded of.

Crosswalk: You’re executive procedurer of another project, the Prime Video animated series The Chosen Adventures. What do you want families to know about that? And how many seasons will it be?

Jenkins: It’s the story of Jesus, but just through a perspective that you might not normally consider. It’s told through the eyes of children. Season 1 is out, but we don't know if it's going to land [and be successful]. So the people are going to decide if Season 1 is received well [and if there are more seasons]. You can keep telling these stories as long as you want [thanks to animation]. So I'd love for The Chosen Adventures to last for a dozen seasons. I think there could be something really powerful about seeing some of these challenging stories through the eyes of children.

Related Articles

Dallas Jenkins Reflects on the Emotional Toll of Filming Christ’s Crucifixion in Season 6

Jonathan Roumie Says Atheists Are Turning to Christ Through ‘The Chosen’

Photo Credit: ©5&2 Studios

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.