How ‘The Chosen’ Premiere brought the Last Supper to life for season 5

During the first four seasons, various Bibles of the New Testament came to life in the script drama series ‘The Chosen’, because viewers have witnessed Jesus Christ (Jonathan Roumie) play water in wine, walk on water, change fish and bread for thousands and also kill a few happy people from their respect. But in season 5, for the iconic Last Supper, that Jesus’ last meal in Jerusalem marked with his 12 apostles before he was arrested and eventually crucified, it was an event that was too huge for the series to keep it just one episode. (After having had a theatrical premiere during Easter, the first two episodes of the fifth season of the show on Amazon’s Prime Video for his exclusive streaming run on 15 June with episodes 3-5 premiered on June 22 and episodes 6-8 on June 29)))

“The Last Supper is so long and demands to be fully treated,” says executive producer Dallas Jenkins. “Jesus gives so many important truth bombs, not only from Scripture, but in the course of our story. There are also things that we do with relationships that do not come from Scripture, so to place it all in one episode would have been emotionally tiring and the short cross.”

So Jenkins and his writers made the season by opening each episode with a scene that takes place during the meal. “There are really important moments, such as washing the feet, the betrayal of Judas and some of the prayers and exercises of a traditional Passover meal that is not discussed in Scripture, but very important and historical,” says Jenkins, adding specific moments from the Last Supper in accordance with themes of the different episodes.

He also said that he wanted to do something different than earlier major events such as the sermon of season 2 on the mountain. “When we did that, we actually did a sort of highlight because we thought:” Ok, 20 minutes of Jesus preaching, there are some wonderful things, but it’s not very cinematic. With the Last Supper we just couldn’t justify that. “

Jenkins, filmed in chronological order for four days, decided to present each last supper segment in reverse order per episode. In other words, the first episode of the season starts with a scene that happens at the end of the meal, and then every subsequent episode moves backwards from that moment. “Emotionally we wanted to let the actors experience the arch of those moments and also undermine the expectations with the audience and keep them sharp,” says Jenkins.

In addition to setting up how you can portray one of the most famous meals in history, there was also its actual design, which started when production designer James Cunningham, who has been with the show since the first season, spoke to Jenkins and the writers about their goals. “They wanted a Triclinium that was a U-shaped table used in the 1st century,” says Cunningham. “People would lean back on benches or on the floor and eat from a table in the middle. Traditionally, the fourth side was left open to people to serve.”

Instead of hitting furniture stores and warehouses to find the right table for the show, Cunningham and his team took on the one to build three slide tables from Oak that would be the last evening meal table. “We each had to make them 10-foot to accommodate all actors, also take the director of photography on the lighting of photography and to fit in space and leave enough space for camera and crew.”

In addition to the table itself, Biblical research showed where each of the men, including Jesus, would have sat at the table. “Traditionally the host [Jesus] Could have been on the left and then the most honored guest of the Lectus Mediusor would sit opposite the host, most of whom think Peter was because of his rank in the 12. ”Judas, the locus consularis (or primary counselor) would also be to Jesus, while John would have been to the right of him” because he would have left Cunning, “”.

Part of the traditional placement of the seats was adapted to production reasons. “Our director photography, Akis Konstantakopoulos, wanted Jesus in the Chamber for Symmetry, and to reflect the iconic Davinci Fresco. We have kept the traditions of the honored guests,” says Cunningham. He adds that, given the several days that shoot the last supper scenes, they used wooden benches for the comfort of the cast.

And although the show called in a Seder expert to ensure that details were accurate for a traditional Passo meal, as well as accurately at the era itself, some additions were made -such as having plates and silverware that the characters would use to eat unlike food with their hands, as Cunningham would probably have done. The color of the tablecloth used for the show was also made lighter, because he says that Konstantakopoulos “wanted to create a somewhat a” bounce “because he wanted the scenes to be darker and created the candles a lot of light.”

In general, Cunningham says that the last supper was the most difficult part of his work for season 5, especially when two weeks prior to filming started when he realized that the space they had built was not big enough for the entire cast and crew. A quick redesign had to be done, he says. “I was not entirely sure how it would all end with the new design, but when I got on the set with the lighting, the table and the actors framed, I started crying,” says Cunningham. “It was such a sense of relief. It was such an iconic story, and it really felt that even if the design was simple, it recorded the essence of this part of the story.”