A first look at The Chosen: Last Supper is here!
PEOPLE has an exclusive sneak peek at new key art ahead of the historical drama’s season 5 premiere, which will be released on March 27 a.k.a. Palm Sunday. Taken by iconic photographer Annie Leibovitz, the portraits offer a look into what fans can expect from the show’s three-part depiction of the Last Supper.
Leibovitz was tapped to take the portraits after the show’s marketing team thought her style would be perfect for the project. When they reached out, the world-renowned photographer was immediately on board as she was already a fan of the series and fell in love with their vision for the key art.
Over a course of four days, Leibovitz captured the photos onThe Chosen set, showing off her attention to detail and lighting. She had been wanting to do a project based on the bible for over 10 years, but never felt she had the right opportunity until now.
The photos also made their Times Square debut this afternoon, with them being plastered across billboards in the heart of New York City.
Cast members Jonathan Roumie and Dallas Jenkins were on hand to mark the big moment, posing for photos outside of the billboard as they celebrated the upcoming release of the new season.
The Chosen, which first began as a crowd-funded project and quickly turned into a hit series, documents the life of Jesus through portrayals of various Biblical stories. Season 5 follows the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John with Jonathan Roumie returning to star as Jesus.
Other cast members include Shahar Isaac as Simon, Paras Patel as Matthew, Elizabeth Tabish as Mary Magdalene, Noah James as Andrew, George H. Xanthis as John, Abe Bueno-Jallad as Big James, Jordan Walker Ross as Little James, Giavanni Cairo as Thaddeus, Joey Vahedi as Thomas, Alaa Safi as Simon the Zealot, Reza Diako as Philip, Austin Reed Alleman as Nathanael, Vanessa Benavente as Mother Mary, Yasmine Al-Bustami as Ramah, Luke Dimyan as Judas, Lara Silva as Eden, Amber Shana Williams as Tamar, Kirk B.R. Woller as Gaius, Nick Shakoour as Zebedee, Brandon Potter as Quintus, David Amito as John the Baptizer, Demetrios Troy as Lazarus and Paul Ben-Victor as King Herod.
In December, Dimyan, who joined the show in season 3 as Judas Iscariot, sat with PEOPLE to discuss his part in the seven-season seriesm set in first-century Israel. He shared that prior to getting the role, he already had personal and strong feelings about the character.
“I always loved the Old Testament growing up,” he said.
An Egyptian-American from Torrance, Calif., Dimyan grew up in the Coptic Orthodox Church, which is a Christian religion in Egypt.
“I read my Bible,” he said. “I understood the stories, and I was very aware of them before I was cast in The Chosen. To me personally, I’ve always felt like there was more to Judas than just greed or devil manipulation and mind control.”
He continued, “His name is cursed upon and he’s vilified, of course. But I’ve also had many talks with people, even in my Coptic community, who genuinely feel heartbroken for him. And you can see naturally that there is room for that. The one bad thing he did hurt him so badly that he took his own life.”
Dimyan also praised the show’s creator, Dallas Jenkins, for his ability to accurately retell historical stories while also expressing artistic creativity.
“The Chosen tries to be very respectful to the time, the history, the people that this story takes place in,” Dimyan explained. “That’s why it’s almost a historical drama. We get into the politics of it. We get into the economic situation of the people of Israel and how they feel both oppressed and financially burdened by a military occupation of Rome.”
“It gets very specific,” he added. “And I think that’s why it’s become so big. It’s become so widespread because it’s not just about telling the story of Jesus, but it’s about understanding the story of Jesus.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The Chosen season 5 will be released in select theaters on March 27 in three parts – Part One (episodes 1-2), Part Two (episodes 3, 4, 5), and Part Three (episodes 6, 7, 8). Later in 2025, the season will make its streaming debut.
Read the full article here
