After an unprecedented but successful release of Season 4 of The Chosen in theaters, the cast and crew are already back at work on Season 5. A recently released behind-the-scenes video from The Chosen is giving fans a glimpse into the monumental undertaking of filming Jesus’ arrival at Jerusalem.
The footage opens up with a dizzying number of extras in costume, who will be gathered around Jesus (Jonathan Roumie) and the apostles as they make their march into the Jerusalem set. While The Chosen has utilized large crowds of fans as extras before – as for the Sermon on the Mount or the Feeding of the 5,000 – this scale is unprecedented.
The arrival at Jerusalem scene required 600 extras to film over the course of three full weeks. This is a massive undertaking, one that showrunner Dallas Jenkins called “one of the most beautiful moments of my life.” He went on to note that Palm Sunday – when the filming took place – would never be the same for anyone present after spending it with such a lively and devoted crowd.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, but it took the efforts and dedication of 600 fans from around the world to shoot this scene. As the interviewer went through the extras, we found folks who’d traveled from Washington, Baltimore, Texas, Virginia, and even as far off as Australia. They weren't just there because they wanted to be in a TV show, but because they have been touched by The Chosen’s story. One extra commented:
“The very first episode touched my heart. It was [at] a time in my life where I was thinking that ‘maybe I’m not that important to God,’ but when Jesus spoke to Mary at the very end of that first episode of Season 1, I wept, because it was like God speaking to me directly, saying ‘You’re mine. You’ll always be mine.’”
There are more quick asides with secrets of the “movie magic” to be seen in this brief video. For example, they give viewers a look at their two donkeys; one of which is a real animal, while the other is just an animatronic head attached to what looks like a golf cart. While we’re not exactly sure how the fake donkey is used, it looks remarkably like the real thing.
Visit The Chosen’s official website to keep up to date with all the latest sneak peeks of Season 5.
