CNA Staff, Apr 17, 2025 /
06:00 am
The popular Christian series “The Chosen” continues to do well at the box office, holding its own against recent Hollywood blockbusters such as “Snow White” and “A Minecraft Movie.”
Now in its fifth season, Part 1 of “The Chosen: Last Supper” — the first two episodes — has become the highest-grossing installment of the series, raking in a little over $19 million in theaters at the time of publishing.
Part 2 — episodes 3 through 5 — of the fifth season recently hit the $10 million mark, and Part 3, which is episodes 6 through 8, was released April 11 and grossed $5.8 million during its opening weekend.
In an interview with CNA, Dallas Jenkins — creator, writer and director of “The Chosen” — shared what inspired his vision of the Last Supper depicted in Season 5, given many different presentations of this historic event.
“We do it ‘The Chosen’ way, which is we take stories that are famous… maybe they have been portrayed in stained-glass windows or as paintings in the case of the Last Supper, one of the most famous paintings of all time … and we’re going to reveal the humanity of it,” he told CNA during a press junket in Dallas on March 19.
“At the beginning of the Last Supper, it was 13 brothers who were very, very close to each other and who loved each other deeply being told by one of them ‘I’m not going to be with you much longer’ and saying some extraordinarily important things that they don’t quite understand and so they’re trying to make sense of it,” Jenkins said.
“So the humanization of a story that actually was human but that we don’t often look at it that way is an important part of how we portrayed it and one that, almost because of the fame of this part of the story, the fame of the Last Supper, it’s easy to distance yourself from it emotionally. And so, I think we’re trying to bring you back into what it would’ve been like to be in that room.”
One of the disciples who begins to understand what Jesus is telling them in Season 5 is John. Actor George Xanthis, who portrays John the Apostle, told CNA how he has seen his character go from “thunder to love” and how viewers are “following him on this journey” from “Son of Thunder,” as Jesus jokingly calls John and his brother James, to becoming “the beloved disciple.”
Xanthis shared that at the beginning of Season 5, John is “ready to listen” but “he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be listening for.”
He added that while Mary Magaldene catches the “bug” of understanding what Jesus is telling them in Season 4, “what Season 5 shows is John catches that bug and he catches it off Mary, which is a lovely moment because it’s a foreshadowing of where they’re both going to end up. So, this is kind of John beginning to have that insider’s ear.”
“I would say that he’s starting to pay attention and he’s sticking very, very close to Jesus as he does,” he said.
The actor pointed out how Jenkins frequently reminded the cast that while they may personally know what happens in the end, at the time, the disciples didn’t know how things were going to end.
Raised in a Greek Orthodox family knowing the Gospels, Xanthis said he had to “wrestle with that — because I knew what was happening, [so] I’m like, ‘How could the disciples not see this?’”
“So, even as John is beginning to catch on to it, it’s also that he doesn’t believe that it’s going to happen at the end of the week,” he added.
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In terms of what he hopes viewers will take away from this season as they themselves are experiencing Holy Week, Jenkins said: “I’m hoping viewers watch this going, ‘When I don’t understand something or someone, can I still trust and follow? Can I still have faith?’”
“Judas didn’t understand and rejected,” Xanthis explained. “The religious leaders didn’t understand and rejected. We have a tendency to still do that today — things I don’t understand, people I don’t understand, I’m going to reject and I’m going to be secure in my own rightness because confusion is not something I can handle. And I think we see in Season 5, more than ever, what it’s like to follow and trust even when you don’t fully understand.”
Actor Paras Patel, who portrays Matthew, also shared his hopes for viewers this season.
“A recurring theme with the show is that there is light after darkness and so we are heading into the darkness but know that there is light coming after,” Patel shared.
“This is going to be a hard season to watch just because we know what’s to come and what’s happening, but I think at the end of the day I just feel like people leave feeling a little bit of hope…you’ll feel a lot, but also just feel rejuvenated and have some strength and hope.”
“The Chosen” is one of several faith-based productions performing well in theaters and on streaming platforms currently. Angel Studios’ “King of Kings” recently set a new record for a biblical animated film with a projected $19 million domestic debut over its opening weekend. The new series “House of David” earned the No. 1 spot on Prime Video’s Top 10 Shows List after its season finale aired on April 3 and drew 22 million viewers in its first 17 days on the streaming platform.
Francesca is a staff reporter for Catholic News Agency. She received her degree in Communications with an emphasis in Digital Media from the University of Colorado – Denver. She is also in charge of the social media for Catholic News Agency.
