Meet the son of an Irish emigrant playing Jesus in the most successful crowdfunded series in history

The press pen at a red carpet event in Leicester Square in London is not my natural habitat, but somehow I found myself there last Monday. But then, virtually everything about the premiere of the fourth season of The Chosen (coming to Irish cinemas on February 1st) was somewhat unusual.

If a successful multi-season streaming television series is rare, The Chosen probably belongs in the category of rarity reserved for those who can tap dance blindfolded on a high wire stretched above a pool of piranhas. It’s a series based on the life of Jesus. Even devout Christians might suppress a groan at that description, given the generally low production values and high level of cheese of most Christian TV and cinema. Non-believers would naturally assume the series has even less to say to them.

Yet Brad Pelo, the executive producer, told me that audience surveys consistently show that half the audience does not identify as Christian. He presumes they just like good television. It is a core value for Dallas Jenkins, writer, producer and director, that The Chosen looks, sounds and feels like the best of big-budget productions, even though it started life as a tiny, crowdfunded enterprise.

Although it has now become the most successful crowdfunded series ever, initially there was not even enough money to finish the first series. But once it began to stream, it picked up viewers and supporters rapidly. It now has over 200 million unique viewers and has been translated into more than 50 languages.

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Once, in character as Andrew, he was asked to lead Shabbat prayer. He began in Hebrew. When [writer and director Dallas] Jenkins explained he needed it in English, James replied, ‘For that, I need a script!’

If the audience is diverse, the cast is even more so. For some of them, this show is primarily about making great television and telling an epic story in a fresh, binge-worthy way. Some of the cast are agnostics or members of world faiths other than Christianity.

For example, Noah James, who plays the disciple Andrew, is Jewish. James told me that he is a believer in the power of art and of telling a great story. Once, in character as Andrew, he was asked to lead Shabbat prayer. He began in Hebrew. When Jenkins explained he needed it in English, James replied, “For that, I need a script!” Both he and Shahar Isaac, who plays Simon Peter, love their characters and the challenges of playing complex, demanding roles but are happy to leave it to the audience to decide what they make of the final product.

Neither they nor Elizabeth Tabish, who plays Mary Magdalene, worry about being typecast or trapped in a particular genre. They are not aware of any blowback from being involved in the project, unless, as Tabish says, they were not booked for roles they never knew about in the first place.

Paras Patel, an American actor of Asian background, plays the role of Matthew, the tax collector, as someone on the autistic spectrum. He receives daily confirmation of how much that matters to people, initially from parents who told him that their children were watching the series and exclaiming, “Matthew is just like me.” Creative innovations such as Matthew’s characterisation and the human, sometimes vulnerable and damaged nature of the other characters are part of the show’s attraction, even, it seems, for some atheist viewers.

[ Breda O’Brien: Crowdfunding creates excellent Christian series ]

In contrast to some of the other actors, Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus, is open about how important his Catholic faith is to him, and the burden and blessing of playing a role that is so important to so many. Even more scary, perhaps, is the knowledge that for some people, this is the only image of Jesus with which they may be familiar.

When asked what the long-term legacy of The Chosen might be, Roumie said he hopes it will contribute to a “cultural paradigm shift” that will lead to a more “faith-friendly, faith-sensitive culture”. He believes that The Chosen has already “started to contribute to the cinematic side of that shift, just by raising the bar on the quality of what these kinds of projects look and feel like, how they perform and the audiences they reach.”

In the hands of talented scriptwriters and actors, stories that have grown jaded through over-familiarity become surprising and moving once more

Roumie’s Irish mammy, who emigrated from Monaghan to the US (his father is Egyptian) must be very proud of him.

The amount of gentle humour and banter in the show is another key element. Obviously, Roumie does not write the scripts, but there is something very Irish about the wry way that he delivers some of the lines.

For example, in the first season, Andrew (Noah James) is described as a terrible dancer, “like a donkey dancing on hot coals”. Peter (Shahar Isaac) asks Jesus to help. Jesus replies: “There are some things even I cannot do.”

But it is not just banter and entertainment. In the hands of talented scriptwriters and actors, stories that have grown jaded through over-familiarity become surprising and moving once more.

Small companies without huge studio machines behind them find it hard to secure cinematic showings. Fortunately, there are probably enough open-minded Irish people who like supporting good independent productions and post-movie discussions to make these St Brigid’s Day releases the success they deserve.

This article was amended on January 29th 2024