Hey there. We understand many of you “paid it forward” on the Angel platform and you were offered a variety of “perks” for your digital purchase. We deeply appreciate your support and love of The Chosen, so we want to do everything we can to honor what you were promised. Since we have no way of knowing who made a “pay it forward” purchase or qualified for perks this will be a 100% honor system (unless it gets abused). Please note that some perks, like having your name in Season 4 credits, isn’t possible. The episodes have been finished for months. If you believe you qualified to have your name in the credits we will attempt to include your name in the season 5 credits. Stay tuned for more info.
Author: Carolina Rodriguez
We don’t technically have a backstage, but here’s your pass.
ChosenCon? Is it like Comic-Con?
Kind of, yeah. But The Chosen Insiders Conference is a lot more personal and a lot less pop culturey (that’s a word, right?). As the name implies, you’ll spend two days on the inside—connecting with our creators, cast, crew, and fellow friends of the show.
What You Can Expect
- Personally meet Dallas, cast members, writers, and crew.
- Attend panel discussions and Q&As for insider info, including some new projects never before discussed publicly.
- Get some unique new gifts only available at the conference.
- Enjoy special performances and sneak peeks.
- Make some new friends who share your love for the show and its impact.
When & Where
DATES: September 20 & 21, 2024
LOCATION: Orlando World Center Marriott Hotel, Orlando, Florida
Gaius: Good Guy or Bad Guy?
Other than some of the old Roman emperors themselves—we’re looking at you, Nero—does anyone more powerfully represent the political (and painful) oppression first-century Israel faced than a Roman soldier? So, it’s quite the feat The Chosen’s pulled off in getting a good number of you to care about one of them. Because c’mon—admit it: you’re three seasons in and standing at the doorstep of Season 4, and you’re all in on learning how the story’s going to unfold for a Roman soldier named Gaius.
We bet you didn’t see that coming when you started the series. But here we are.
The Man Behind the Soldier
To be fair, a big part of the draw to Gaius is the man who portrays him: Kirk B.R. Woller. Woller and Dallas have worked together for something like 25 years. In fact, Woller’s played a role in almost every project Dallas has done. And you can see why. Whether it’s in his work with The Chosen or in other projects that range from Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report to the The X-Files, he’s not afraid to add quirks and personality to whoever he’s portraying. He speaks a thousand words with an upward twitch at the corner of his mouth or by merely blinking his wide-eyed eyes. And he doesn’t shy away from weaving in emotive twists and turns that catch viewers by surprise and often even moves them in ways unexpected. Simply put: Woller’s become a fan favorite. For real—you should have heard the roar from the audience when he walked out on the stage at The Chosen Insiders Convention in October.
But back to where we started: the character of Gaius has become a fan favorite, too. And while this is due in no small part to Woller’s work, it’s also because of the work put in by the writers of The Chosen.
Slaying the Stereotype—and Elevating the Human
It would have been easy to steer right into the stereotypes many folks have cultivated concerning Roman soldiers—to write every soldier, including Gaius, as some unthinkingly loyal brute for an evil empire, always scowling in the street and itching to swing a sword. But as Woller pointed out when discussing his character at ChosenCon, “Dallas hates stereotypes.” One of the chief goals for all of the writers at The Chosen has been to paint earthy portraits of Jesus, his followers, and the countless others who surrounded him (and them)—and to do so as they remain faithful to the historical accounts that have been handed down to us. And so from the first episode of Season 1, every character a viewer encounters has layer upon layer, because every character is a man or a woman or a child with a backstory filled with experiences that have shaped them for better or for worse (and oftentimes, both). And this includes the ones who were pretty skittish about Jesus. There’s surprising depth to even a Roman soldier, because they’re a human being long before they don the armor and take hold of some title. And that depth demands to be appreciated.
Which leads us to Gaius…
When you first meet him, he’s in full gear, standing outside of a tax collection booth with the sort of sneer that can only come from contempt for the Jews. But within a handful of scenes, he’s so suddenly protective of a Jewish tax collector named Matthew that you’d think he was Matthew’s father. And just when you’re tempted to think Gaius is nothing more than the puppet of another character, Quintus, the snide and dangerous Roman magistrate in Capernaum and Praetor of Galilee, you spot Gaius turning a bit of a (legal) blind eye to some of what is unfolding with Jesus and his disciples. And there’s more. We’re three seasons in with the guy, and we’ve caught him jovially tying sailor knots with a Jewish fisherman and doling out marriage advice that just so happens to be quite good.
Even still, The Chosen’s writers have never forgotten that Gaius is a Roman soldier. And so there are still scenes in which he shows flashes of rage, where he isn’t above lying, where he makes things harder for Jesus and his disciples than they need to be. And, well, for those of you who have watched, you know that there’s quite the twist to his story in Season 3.
This rollercoaster of a journey with Gaius through the first three seasons The Chosen has left many a viewer asking, “Is Gaius a good guy or a bad guy?” Which is great. Because it means the writers of The Chosen have successfully done what they set out to do: they’ve introduced you to an intricate someone who is trying to figure out what on earth to do with Jesus, with the world around him, and even what to do about what’s unfolding in his own home.
And in answer to that question—“Is Gaius a good guy or a bad guy”—he’s a human being.
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SEASON 4 IN THEATERS FEB 1
Clashing kingdoms. Rival rulers. The enemies of Jesus close in while His followers struggle to keep up, leaving him to carry the burden alone. Threatened by the reality of Jesus’ growing influence, religious leaders do the unthinkable—ally with their Roman oppressors. As the seeds of betrayal are planted and opposition to Jesus’ message turns violent, he’s left with no alternative but demand his followers RISE UP.
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And here’s the opening paragraph. It’s bursting with wit, whimsy, and SEO magic. Literally every internet search leads toTheChosen.tv.
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And here’s the opening paragraph. It’s bursting with wit, whimsy, and SEO magic. Literally every internet search leads toTheChosen.tv.
Here’s a new section in the post.
It’s so exciting that people will read all the way until the…
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Wherein they learn that we’ve saved the very best for…
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But wait! There’s a twist, and we leave the audience dangling from
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Behind the Quote: Come and See
“Come and see.”
This simple phrase changed everything for Nathanael in Season Two, Episode 2 of The Chosen. And those three little words packed quite a punch not only for him, but also for The Chosen viewers. Chances are, you’ve seen that phrase on this website, or maybe on a t-shirt, or even a bumper sticker. Heck, thousands of people have put it on their doorsteps as a welcome mat.
But that phrase didn’t actually originate with us. One of the best things about a historical drama like The Chosen is that we’ve got plenty of source material to pull from. Our writers and consultants scour ancient literature, especially the Bible (duh). And, while you might not see anything there about a fattened goose, this phrase comes directly from the first chapter of John’s gospel when Philip told Nathanael to “come and see.”
The Story of a Skeptic
The story behind “come and see” is, in many ways the story of a skeptic. In the biblical account, it’s awfully hard to miss that Nathanel’s skeptical. But, Nathanael isn’t a skeptic in the traditional sense. He’s actually a faithful, truthful believer. His skepticism comes from that place of truthfulness—here’s yet another guy claiming to be the Messiah. So, when our writers tackle a story like this, they tackle tough questions head on: what could possibly make this type of skeptic drop everything to “come and see”?
When we’re first introduced to Nathanael in The Chosen, he’s a Jewish architect who wants nothing more than to build a synagogue for worship, to do a great thing in God’s name. But it’s not long before that dream literally crashes around him. Everything that could go wrong goes wrong, and Nathanael ends up with nothing to his name. He stumbles out of town, collapses under a fig tree, and turns his blueprints to ash.
The Story of a Skeptic and a Disciple
Here’s the thing. When we said the story behind those three words—“come and see”—is the story of a skeptic, we were holding back just a bit. (If you’re an overachiever and you’ve read our source material in John 1:43-51, you already know this.) The story behind “come and see” is the story of a skeptic named Nathanael and a man named Philip.
In John’s gospel, It’s clear that Nathanael seems to have been good friends with a man named Philip. And while Nathanael is stumbling to his tree steeped in skepticism, a few miles away, Philip has an encounter with Jesus. And we’re told (source material!) that in the wake of that encounter, Philip becomes a disciple of Jesus—an apprentice-like relationship in the Jewish world. Now, where does Nathanael fit into all of this? Well, remember: they’re good friends. And Nathanael decides to nudge his skeptical friend just a bit in the direction of Jesus.
And there’s those three words: “Come and See.” Lifted right from Season Two Episode 2 of The Chosen, which was lifted right from our source material of John 1:44-51. “Come and see” is Philip’s winsome (and frankly, chill) way of saying to a skeptic, “Maybe just give him a chance? Maybe just come and spend some time with him, see what he has to say and what he can do, and go from there?” And according to the story that’s been handed down to us by John, Nathanael goes.
The Story of a Skeptic Who Becomes a Disciple
All of the source material we work off of—the Bible and other ancient resources—tells us that Nathanael pushed past his skepticism and became a disciple himself. That’s why if you watch the rest of The Chosen from Season Two, Episode 2 onward, you’re going to see Nathanael always right there, always in the mix of what’s going on. And he’s there because someone said, “Come and See.” Three words rewrote Nathanael’s story, and the reality of that story captured the imagination of millions of viewers around the world.
It’s the Most Wonderful Tuesday of the Year
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: what’s Tuesday and teal all over?
Oh. Okay. You have heard it. Anyway. Yes. It’s Teal Tuesday. And this year’s Teal Tuesday is Tuesday, November 21, from 4pm to midnight.
Given that you knew we were talking about Teal Tuesday from the very first sentence, you probably know what on earth it is. But let’s make sure we’re alllll on the same page: Teal Tuesday is our Black Friday. And we’re not gonna argue with you if you want to declare it better than Black Friday. It’s certainly first in line. And hey—speaking of lines—for this, there aren’t any you have to elbow your way through at 5am. Nice, eh? But it’s even nicer than that, because here’s what else you can expect:
- A wild, packed-with-surprises 8-hour livestream hosted by Chosen co-founder, Derral Eves, and Chosen Insiders, Chris and Jalein—and available on all our platforms: YouTube, Facebook and The Chosen app
- A 20 percent discount on all the gifts in our gift store (and by “all” we mean ALL)
- Pop-in visits from cast members of The Chosen
- Did you read that last one? pop-in visits from cast members of The Chosen
- Gift giveaways every hour on the hour—and one very big giveaway at the end
C’mon. That’s great. And something that great is totally worthy of you grabbing your calendar right now and writing “Teal Tuesday, 4pm-midnight” in that little square marked “November 21.” And oh, man: write it in teal. How meta is that?
See you Tuesday.
The Teaser for Season 4 Is Here! (Almost!)
“It was intense. All I could think was: they keep getting better and better.”
Our first teaser trailer for Season 4 just dropped at The Chosen Insiders Conference, and you could have cut the electricity in the room with Matthew’s spoon. (Yes, we just invented a new idiom. Also: don’t cut electricity with a spoon. Or anything, now that we think about it.)
Dallas said Season 4 is the “most mature season yet”…yeah, it’s gonna be a gut-punch of a narrative arc. And, wow. Yep. Punched us right in the gut. Here’s what a few Chosen Insiders had to say after the teaser trailer #1 dropped:
“I’m excited, but I’m also sad at the same time, because you know some of what’s coming.”
“From the moment the teaser started, I teared up. You could feel the weight like never before.”
“I can tell it’s going to be an extremely emotional and spiritual experience in Season 4. I had goosebumps from start to finish.”
“That’s something my friends will watch.”
Now, if you’re currently knee-deep in weeping and gnashing your teeth because you weren’t at #ChosenCon, dry those eyes and stop with the weird teeth thing—because you can watch it right here and now.
Christmas with The Chosen 2023
Some things just go together. Rhythm and blues. Oreos and milk. Fall and football. Hugs and kisses. And how about The Shepherd and The Messengers? You know—the two Chosen Christmas specials? Of course they go together. But here’s the thing: they’ve actually never been together.
Until now.
Call it regifting if you like, but we’ve taken these episodes from Christmas past and woven them together (wreath-like) into your Christmas present. Freshly recut and remastered, the two are now one seamless story about the birth of Jesus—Christmas with The Chosen: Holy Night.
Combining the best of old and new, we’ve also worked in six of your favorite musical performances from the past, leading to a first-time-ever performance by Andrea Bocelli and his son, Matteo.
Want to peel back the wrapping paper and take an early peek? Here you go:
Christmas with The Chosen: Holy Night hits theaters for a limited run December 12-17. Tickets go on sale at Fathom Events on November 20. (Don’t worry; we’ll remind you.)
Is it too early to say, “Merry Christmas”?
