‘The Chosen’ actor on Season 6: ‘I’ve never seen the cast so focused’

 

CNA Staff, Jun 28, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The cast of the hit series “The Chosen” was recently in Matera, Italy, filming the crucifixion of Jesus, which will be featured in Season 6. Abe Bueno-Jallad, the actor who portrays Big James, or James the Great, shared that he has “never seen the cast so focused.”

Unable to talk much about the upcoming season, he told CNA in an interview that the actors are “all there for each other right now. Everybody is carrying such a heavy burden this season as an actor.”

“There’s just been incredible stuff happening on set. I’ve come back to set on days that I don’t work just to watch and I’ve seen stuff that gives me goosebumps,” he added.

5&2 Studios, the production company behind “The Chosen,” and Amazon MGM Studios recently made several announcements regarding future seasons of the show.

First, the episodes of Season 6 leading up to the finale will be released exclusively on Prime Video in 2026. An official date was not given. Additionally, in a first-of-its-kind arrangement between the two production companies, the two will work together to release the Season 6 finale of the hit series as a feature film portraying the crucifixion of Jesus in theaters on May 12, 2027.

Lastly, the premiere of Season 7 will also be made into a feature film depicting Jesus’ resurrection and will be in theaters on March 31, 2028.

Currently, viewers of the show can watch Season 5 exclusively on Prime Video before it is released for free on The Chosen app. Episodes 1 and 2 of Season 5 were released on the streaming platform on June 15; episodes 3, 4, and 5 were released on June 22; and episodes 6, 7, and 8 will be released on June 29.

Bueno-Jallad joined the show in Season 2 after a casting change at the end of Season 1. Despite not being on the show in Season 1, he had several callbacks and kept tabs on how the production of the show was doing.

He recalled in an interview with CNA that the cast and crew were not even sure if they would be able to get through the filming and production of Season 1, so “to know that we’re on Amazon now — that’s crazy. Amazon is so big!”

When speaking to the feature films that are going to be made, Bueno-Jallad said: “I love being a part of a company and a project that’s not afraid to kind of shake it up, stir up the water, do things differently — ‘get used to different’ has kind of always been our motto.”

For those who were unable to watch Season 5 in the theaters and are watching it for the first time as it releases on Prime Video, Bueno-Jallad shared that “everybody is kind of at this really big boiling point.”

He added: “Jesus is trying to convey to us, specifically to a few characters, that this is it — this is going to be the last time.”

The actor shared that the last five years of being on the show has “undoubtedly changed” him.

“The research of the character and having to research the perspective, understanding that there was no New Testament at the time so, what’s my only biblical reference at that point? Going deep into this … reading as much as I can. Getting completely submerged with the idea of who were these people,” he said.

He has also come to learn several things from his character while portraying him.

“It’s this idea of knowing when to listen without sacrificing the biggest and strongest parts of your personality, knowing how to be… I think as men, particularly… knowing how to be vulnerable without feeling like you’re less of a protector,” he shared.

“I really tried to put that into practice in Season 5. I wanted to show the most open, grounded, vulnerable Big James who was still none the less strong and powerful,” Bueno-Jallad explained.

“I think for men we kind of need that message these days — how to not lose ourselves or think that emotions are weakness. You’re still a protector no matter what.”