Dallas Jenkins Reflects on the Emotional Toll of Filming Christ’s Crucifixion in Season 6
The creator and director of The Chosen is speaking candidly about the filming of Season 6, including raw moments from a behind-the-scenes viral video that showed cast members crying and him breaking down in his wife’s arms. Dallas Jenkins told Crosswalk Headlines that filming the crucifixion of Christ was exhausting in every sense – physically beneath the blazing Italian sun, and emotionally and spiritually as he and the team revisited the Passion scene multiple times.
A video released this summer on the series’ official YouTube channel captured some of those moments, showing cast and crew overcome with emotion and Jenkins briefly stepping away to the edge of the set, where his wife, Amanda, embraced him.
“I was emptied out,” Jenkins said, describing it as an “emotional collapse.”
“I was spent.”
It’s been a busy season for the couple. This weekend, Prime Video debuts The Chosen Adventures, an animated series he executive produced that follows two children who encounter Jesus in first-century Capernaum. Then on Nov. 11, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever arrives on DVD and Blu-ray, giving families the opportunity to bring home a film some reviewers labeled an instant holiday classic. Jenkins directed it.
Both projects follow the recent release of The Stronghold of the Chosen, a Bible study co-authored by Amanda Jenkins that draws from Season 5 and explores the refuge God’s people find in Him. Season 6 is scheduled to debut in late 2026, with the finale premiering in theaters as a standalone feature film on March 12, 2027. It spotlights the final hours of Christ’s life before His death and resurrection.
“I do think it's going to impact people all over the world in a way that this story should,” Dallas said.
The viral behind-the-scenes video never shows actor Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus, but instead focuses on other cast members, including Elizabeth Tabish (Mary Magdalene) and Lara Silva (Eden, Peter’s wife). The clip has racked up 1.4 million views, accompanied by comments like, “If the actors and the whole team were still sobbing after shooting the scene, how are we going to fare with this?? I'm crying already.”
Dallas remembers the day well.
“We were filming Jesus being raised up onto the cross [and] Jonathan, as Jesus, was emotionally and physically spent, yelling and screaming. And the actresses are all weeping. And I'm away from home, and we're rushed and we're hot, and we're just in this foreign environment, and the crew isn't speaking English – and all of these factors were just so isolating in so many ways, even though I was surrounded by 200 people.”
The entire season, he said, was grueling to film.
“It forced us to bond. We called it trauma bonding through most of the season. But when you're filming the crucifixion, when you're filming the scourging of Christ, when you're filming His walk through the streets of Jerusalem, carrying a heavy cross and collapsing and bleeding and all of this – we know that it's just a show. We know that it's not actually real. We know that Jonathan isn't actually Jesus, and he's not actually being tortured at the level that Jesus was.
“But these are your friends that we’re watching. When Jonathan showed up for the first time on set with the crown of thorns on his head and blood streaming down his face and his body brutalized – it's hard to look at. That's my friend. That's someone I've been working with for years. And you're also feeling the weight of a story that happened 2,000 years ago but is still changing people's lives all over the world. It's brutal, it's brutal to do, and it wasn't fun.
“And I think that's actually how God wanted it. I think this season was meant to be a bit of a sacrifice, to give us a little bit of a taste – a miniscule taste – of the suffering and sacrifice that Season 6 is about.”
Amanda Jenkins, who is seen toward the end of the clip, said God “just had everyone in a really raw dependent place” for the filming.
“It's the emotions that our cast have to repeat, hour by hour by hour, and then Dallas being the one who's stewarding that and stewarding them and their emotions and their own spiritual journeys in real life.”
She has visited The Chosen set countless times over the years, but said Season 6 was different.
“Everybody was in tears. And so you say ‘cut,’ and the actors need consoling and shepherding. And so [Dallas is] comforting them. And then I arrived, and he needed a minute … And so he got his moment where he could actually just have that release as well, and then get back to work.”
Photo courtesy 5&2 Studios
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
Originally published October 16, 2025.
