IR Z Direct Interview: David Amito & Amy Bailey For “The Chosen” [S4]

The Inside Reel

Actors David Amito & Amy Bailey talk to The Inside Reel about impact, approach, pscyhology and the context of forgiveness in regards to the 4th season of their landmark series: “The Chosen”.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 Remembering wishing there could be another way.

00:17 And looking back, I do too.

00:20 I still don't know why it has to be this way.

00:23 The bitter often mingled with the sweet.

00:29 You told us it would be like that with how you lived.

00:36 The man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.

00:41 The great thing about The Chosen,

00:46 especially with both of your characters,

00:49 is the practicality of how it shows them

00:52 about how they deal with things.

00:54 Obviously, Amy with Joanna, the aspect

00:57 of how she sees the politics and how that keys

01:00 into her following of Jesus.

01:03 And then obviously, David, the aspect

01:06 of what ministry means in terms of correlation

01:10 to Jesus with John the Baptist and obviously

01:12 what you're going through and what you

01:14 will go through in season four.

01:17 Could you guys talk about the psychology of these characters,

01:22 making them real, making them grounded,

01:24 but also making sure they key into the idea of the scripture

01:27 and the story that The Chosen is telling?

01:30 Yeah, a lot.

01:32 I've said this now a few times, but John is not Jesus.

01:37 He's not God.

01:39 He is a man that is paving the way for Jesus

01:44 amongst the Jews, amongst his community.

01:49 And it was very important that I didn't

01:52 treat him like a superhero, that this is all coming easy for him,

01:56 that if he's in prison, no problem,

01:59 that if he's facing his own mortality,

02:03 that that's totally fine.

02:06 That's not a human response to a life that I believe he loved.

02:10 I believe he had a lot of mission and purpose.

02:13 To speak to your point about where he belongs in scripture,

02:17 there's a real purpose to his existence here on Earth.

02:21 And he's coming to the end and fulfillment of it.

02:24 But in how it revealed itself on set

02:28 was that he was a man that also loved his life

02:31 and loved his purpose and loved the people around him

02:34 and had a beautiful relationship with Andrew, with Jesus,

02:39 or with Joanna.

02:40 And so I think, like all of us, it's complicated.

02:45 And every time we think we have a momentous time

02:49 to face in our life, it's never quite how we might think it is,

02:56 going into it.

02:57 But it unfolds, usually, in a beautifully surprising way,

03:01 which is really life, life itself.

03:04 And so that was very important, I think, for me

03:08 and for the writers, that John be human and yet have

03:11 all these colors to him, where he is both a wild man

03:16 and yet very centered in the scripture.

03:21 He's seemingly crazy on the outside,

03:25 but the ability to see further than the average man in terms

03:30 of Jesus and his arrival.

03:34 And so, yeah, it's been beautiful to play.

03:38 And that's as close as I can articulate the psychology,

03:42 because a lot of it was in experience.

03:44 [MUSIC - "WHAT WONDROUS LOVE IS THIS"]

03:48 It's time.

03:54 (SINGING) What wondrous love is this?

03:59 Oh, my soul.

04:00 Listen carefully to my words.

04:01 (SINGING) Oh, my soul.

04:04 There are those for whom this will set off a series of events.

04:07 (SINGING) What wondrous love is this?

04:12 Oh, my soul.

04:14 Amy, for you, because obviously it's different,

04:16 plus the connection that gave her that spark point with John

04:21 sort of keyed into that beyond the aspect of Jesus.

04:23 But if you could talk about that psychology with her as well.

04:26 In a way, it surprised me at how I was very quickly

04:30 able to modernize the psychology that's

04:33 happening with this character, because there is so much

04:37 importance right now on materialism and personal fame.

04:42 I mean, the stuff that kids are having

04:44 to go through with the pressures of social media

04:46 and social standing and how beautiful you are,

04:48 how rich you are, and look what I have.

04:50 There's so much posturing, and it's debilitating.

04:54 And I think it's ruining a lot of early experiences

04:58 for young people, because it clouds an experience

05:02 of true love and beauty and what it really means.

05:06 And so for me, this character is going through it

05:09 in real time of looking around her going,

05:12 oh, I thought I had everything.

05:13 I have nothing.

05:15 And in fact, I'm looking at these people who have nothing,

05:18 and they have everything.

05:20 And so it was a very literal interpretation to me

05:24 of what is going on societally.

05:27 And I'm hoping that maybe it will inspire people who

05:33 are going through the same thing,

05:34 and they think that they need so much more.

05:39 And really, everything that they have is right in front of them.

05:41 So I'm curious to see what they're

05:43 going to write for Joanna going forward

05:46 when she does give it all up.

05:47 Because like David just said, nothing's simple, right?

05:51 So here she is. She's going to give it up.

05:52 She's going to follow Christ.

05:54 But there's going to be a moment where she's like, oh, I

05:56 don't have money in my money purse anymore.

05:58 I don't have a castle to go back to.

06:00 So we'll see if Joanna can hang with that.

06:03 Tim, you also ask a very interesting question

06:06 about the psychology.

06:07 Because this show is so attentive

06:09 to the different psychologies of pretty much every character.

06:15 Everyone has their own unique struggle.

06:17 Shafar is dealing with Paris and the conflicts

06:23 that they've had together.

06:24 And Jesus himself is like--

06:26 there is an emotional--

06:31 it's a God having a human experience.

06:34 And so he's dealing with the emotions that come.

06:39 Jonathan does not play it as if it doesn't have emotions.

06:41 So I think that's a really--

06:44 I like that question.

06:45 Because I think it's so true to what the writers are

06:47 doing with the show and how it's become so relatable.

06:50 Because we all have a particular issue

06:53 that we can relate with deeper than others.

06:55 So it's pretty beautiful that way.

06:58 My followers won't understand.

07:01 The Son of Man must suffer many things.

07:05 But you are the Son of God.

07:07 What wondrous love is this that calls the Lord of bliss?

07:17 I know it's hard.

07:19 Man makes it much harder.

07:21 To bear the dreadful curse.

07:26 The disciples, Mary, Joanna, it's all about questions.

07:30 Why?

07:30 Why is this happening?

07:32 How does this happen?

07:33 How do we have to look at this?

07:35 Miracles versus non-miracles.

07:37 What the Romans are doing, all these things.

07:39 It's interesting to see that because it grounds it.

07:42 But what you were saying, Amy, as well as well as you,

07:44 David, was the aspect almost of perspective and perception.

07:49 How the materialism will fall away and what is left.

07:53 What is left with the faith, A.

07:55 But B, also the aspect of how you show that, how combative.

07:59 I mean, there's that discussion, David, with you and Jonathan

08:03 as Jesus about what does it mean?

08:06 Should we talk about this about Herod?

08:09 Should we not?

08:10 Should we do this?

08:11 Should we not?

08:12 And the same thing, obviously, Amy,

08:13 talking inside Herod's house with Juzah.

08:16 How far do you go?

08:18 How do you sort of play that?

08:19 That's some really neat details that

08:21 go on about perspective and perception in this time period

08:25 and how it reflects in, obviously,

08:27 the Bible and Christianity as it is now.

08:30 Could you guys both talk about it?

08:32 Sort of an esoteric question, but the idea

08:34 of what perspective and perception means in this world

08:36 and how it leads to a greater faith, per se.

08:40 I think, David, you've given a beautiful answer on this

08:43 over and over again.

08:44 And it's why people--

08:45 why does this show, which had very, very humble beginnings,

08:50 a crowdfunded little Christian show in the beginning,

08:53 is no longer that?

08:54 And we're reaching almost a billion views.

08:55 So why?

08:56 And people in Hollywood are saying, why?

08:59 What are they doing?

09:00 And it's the fact that they're able to humanize

09:04 these ancient characters who are thousands of years old

09:07 and to some people may or may not believe they were real.

09:10 Treated as historical, treated as Christian, whatever.

09:15 We don't change that much as people.

09:18 Thousands of years ago till right now here in January 2024

09:22 when they're watching these characters up on stage,

09:25 people are crying because they're

09:28 watching humanity unfold in all of its messy glory.

09:32 And that's essentially what it is.

09:34 That is, it's the psychology of being a human being

09:36 and how these stories happen to us over and over again.

09:40 When he leans on his own understanding.

09:42 ♪ To bear the dreadful curse ♪

09:48 ♪

09:52 I dread what is to come.

09:54 ♪

10:00 Story.

10:01 You think it's in?

10:02 And I'll end with this question,

10:03 because that's what I love what you were saying, Amy,

10:06 is about human behavior.

10:07 Human behavior doesn't change.

10:09 I mean, greed is always going to exist.

10:12 Love is always going to exist.

10:13 Jealousy will always exist, but also forgiveness,

10:16 which I was asking Jonathan and Elizabeth about.

10:19 Forgiveness will always exist.

10:21 It just depends on the amount that we allow it to enter.

10:25 Could you sort of talk about that in human behavior

10:27 as a metaphor for bigger ideas per se?

10:32 Go ahead.

10:36 - Yeah, I mean, there's a powerful theme,

10:40 especially in episode two about forgiveness

10:43 and about who's carrying the weight when you don't forgive.

10:48 You know, and there's elements to that that are,

10:53 the confluence of like, of scripture

10:59 or religious text of any sort and the human being,

11:02 the human beings kind of experiencing that

11:05 and how it can help us psychologically,

11:08 how it can help us spiritually on our path

11:11 to living a fulfilling life.

11:15 And I think- - And also sacrifice.

11:17 And also sacrifice, I wanted to add that in.

11:19 Not just forgiveness, but the sacrifice

11:21 and the sacrifices you make for others.

11:23 - Yeah, which ultimately is like,

11:27 it does speak to how interconnected we are.

11:31 Like in a way that the sacrifice you do

11:33 is for a greater glory, a greater good

11:38 that's not just heavenly, but earthly,

11:41 that for the community around.

11:43 And all these people are a community as well.

11:46 They look out for each other, these disciples

11:48 and Joanna coming into that

11:51 and all the allies that Jesus is building

11:56 and how they're grappling with their own perception

12:01 and how Jesus is really disrupting the status quo

12:06 and making them think like, maybe it's not just,

12:09 maybe there's a way to look past these ceremonial things

12:12 into what is the deeper truth.

12:14 And I think a lot of great leaders

12:17 and spiritual people have done that.

12:19 And in this story, Jesus is this light to,

12:30 I think also self-understanding,

12:34 at least how the show has been done.

12:36 So that's how I've received it.

12:40 Amy, anything to add there?

12:42 - Yeah, no, I think that that was beautifully put, yes.

12:45 - It is on this rock that I will build my church

12:51 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

12:59 - This infernal chaos, why can no one control these people?

13:04 - What just happened to all of you?

13:11 It's about to get worse.

13:12 - Now that I'm here, physical death

13:17 does not interrupt our eternal life.

13:19 - Lazarus, come out!

13:24 (dramatic music)

13:28 (dramatic music)

13:31 (dramatic music)

13:34 (gunshots)

13:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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