Happy Easter from MovieWebto anyone who celebrates! Before the start of Holy Week, we spoke with two main cast members of what’s undoubtedly the most culturally significant religious-themed television series at the moment, if not all time,The Chosen. The delightfulLuke Dimyanportrays Judas Iscariot in the series, and the charmingGiavani Cairotakes on the role of Thaddaeus (also known as Saint Jude, or Jude Thaddaeus). In most places,The Chosenhas just finished a very successful theatrical run of its fourth season, screening three episodes at a time, but due to some legal issues, the streaming release date for the season is still unknown. Watch this space and see the bottom of the article for more information.
The Chosenfollows Jesus of Nazarethas he develops friendships and brings in his 12 disciples, including the much-maligned Judas and the little-known Thaddaeus. Dimyan and Cairo sat for a wide-ranging conversation you may watch above. With the Easter holiday upon us, it’s interesting to note their opinion of what’s yet another massively popular religious project, Mel Gibson’sThe Passion of the Christ. While Gibson is still working on hissequel about the resurrection, andThe Chosenis still a couple of seasons away from tackling it, we were curious what the stars of the show thought of the film.
“Personally, just my opinion,I wasn’t a huge fan ofPassion, but that was just me,” admitted Dimyan. “I was kind of shown it as a kid around a group of a bunch of other Sunday School church kids. It was technically the first rated-R movie I’d ever seen. And I kind of came out of it like,other than the brutality and the hurt and the pain that I noticed, I didn’t really get much out of it.” He continued:
“It was really cool that the entire cast was speaking, I believe, Aramaic, the language used at the time, which was an amazing commitment to make thematically, but past that,I felt like it missed a lot of the strong buildup of the story, which is what I would have been more appreciative to have seen. I’m really a bit more of a fan ofJesus of Nazareth, which is a slog, but I’m a kid who was raised on the extended editions ofLord of the Rings, so four hours, six hours, is nothing to me.”
It makes sense, consideringThe Passion of the Christis practically the antithesis ofThe Chosen. The former is fastidiously focused on the suffering (i.e. passion) of Jesus, while the latter spends dozens of hours exploring his life, family, friends, and humanity. For his part, Cairo hadn’t actually seen the film:
Do you know what? This might surprise you, but I have never seen Passion of the Christ.
“Don’t tell me what happens, please,” joked Cairo.
“Jesus dies,” said Dimyan.
“What are you doing?!” half-yelled Cairo.
“I’m the villain. I ruin things,” responded Dimyan, playing into his Judas Iscariot role.
Was The Chosen Season 4 a Box Office Success?
The faith-based television series, The Chosen, got a theatrical release through Fathom Events. Is it a box office hit?
The Chosen Season 4 Is the ‘Most Emotional Season Yet’
With Easter upon us, we had to ask the actors what season or episode they’d recommend to people for the holiday or anytime, or if they have a favorite Easter film. “I mean, if you haven’t seen the show yet, I would definitely start with episode one,” explained Cairo. “Honestly, I think it’s a beautiful start to the series. It’s kind of like a welcome, and it’s a little bit lighter than some of the past couple of seasons we have done.” He elaborated:
“The first season, I always kind of relate to it. It’s like you’re getting the band together. It’s getting a group of us together […]I think it just gets better each and every season, especially if you haven’t seen Season Four yet; I know they’re doing an extended release in theaters right now.And it’s hands down our most emotional season yet, it was probably the most emotional film as well, for a variety of reasons. But these are characters that you can really connect to and see yourself in, and I would definitely recommend it.”
Dimyan, who is very funny in that cottonmouth-dry way, added, “Oh yeah, I really recommend the movieHop, starring Russell Brand as the Easter Bunny. Great Easter movie […] But I guess Giavani was right, season one is kind of my personal favorite too, it’s not a bad place to start. Really great writing, an incredible pilot episode that grabs you immediately and builds you up to the rest of the story. It’s a pretty good place to start.”
“Can you go seeHopwith me this weekend?” asked Cairo.
“I would love to seeHopwith you this weekend,” replied Dimyan.
“Matt, you’re invited.”
“Oh, thank you! I’ll bring my copy ofThe Passion of the Christfor you, Giavani.”
Created by Dallas Jenkins,The Chosenis available on basically every digital platform you’re able to imagine. You can watch it for free onThe Chosenwebsite through the link below, and it’s alsofree on The CW, BYU TV, and Fandango at Home. You can stream it on Netflix, Prime Video, Peacock, fuboTV, Philo, and other platforms.
Watch The Chosen
Less than 5% of people who watchThe Chosenspend anything on it, which is by design; the creators want as many people to see it as possible. However, with new legal issues preventing season four from being released, the model may not be sustainable.You can donate here to helpcreate and translate the show.
