CNA Staff, Mar 28, 2025 / 06:00 am
Season 5 of the hit series “The Chosen” has officially been released in theaters across the country.
“The Chosen: Last Supper” focuses on the events of Holy Week, starting with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and ending with Judas’ betrayal in the Garden of Gethsamene.
Part 1 of Season 5 was released in theaters on March 28, with Part 2 coming on April 4 and Part 3 on April 11.
Actor Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus in the series, shared about his experience portraying historic events such as the Last Supper and the washing of the feet, especially as a Catholic who celebrates these moments every year during the Triduum.
“For me, it was living out liturgy,” he told CNA in a March 19 press junket interview at the premiere of Season 5 in Dallas. “I try to best replicate a level of authenticity for those scenes based on my experience of the liturgy.”
Speaking about these beautiful moments in salvation history, he said: “It’s going to be stunningly beautiful for people to see. And we sort of present it in a very unique way, but in a way that is super powerful.”
He added: “I hope it lands the way it felt when we did it because there were moments where many of us were just kind of like wiping away the tears from our eyes right after the scene, or during the scene. It’s really truly beautiful.”
The release of the new season comes during Lent, culminating in the Triduum and the celebration of Easter. Roumie hopes that Season 5 will provide viewers “a more vibrant and saturated experience of Holy Week, a more vivid experience of Holy Week, that they can see and feel.”
Roumie explained that during this time where we are reading about these important moments of Holy Week in Mass each week, viewers will now get to see “a full production of what this moment looked like. I don’t know if anybody has ever covered it in the detail that we have and I think for me it was so important to bring everything that I had to it, especially as a Catholic.”
The actor shared that he even flew his spiritual director out to be with him as they shot the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsamene.
“I just wanted to be armed with as much spiritual firepower as possible,” he said. “He’s a priest so he said Mass for me that day. I felt prayed up, put it that way, before entering into the scene.”
Roumie is now preparing himself for another incredibly important scene — the Crucifixion, which will be shown in Season 6.
The actor shared that he recently received the script and while Roumie has been traveling, he has been trying to read “different source material” regarding the Passion.
He has also been studying the Shroud of Turin in order to learn more about “the crucifixion techniques and what Jesus actually would’ve went through.”
“Learning from the markings on that shroud, what the crucifixion physically looked like and what I now have to prepare for mentally and spiritually to recreate — I’m not looking forward to it, but I’m confident that the Lord will bring me through it one way or another, and hopefully I’ll continue to learn more and fall deeper in love with Jesus as a result.”
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