By Jack Figge, OSV News
(OSV News) — In the past four years, the TV show “The Chosen” has taken the Catholic world by storm, as thousands eagerly await the debut of the fifth season.
“The Chosen” is a popular historical drama that follows the lives of Christ and his disciples. Produced by 5&2 Studios, a studio founded by the show’s creator and director Dallas Jenkins, “The Chosen” is currently in its fourth season. The fifth season will be released in theaters across the country this March.
Through their participation in “The Chosen,” many of the show’s crew members and actors — including Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus — have rediscovered faith.
One such actor is Giavani Cairo, who portrays Jude Thaddeus, one of the Twelve Apostles in the show.
Cairo was raised Catholic in Michigan, but he fell away from his faith.
“Growing up, the faith just seemed like it was something you just did,” Cairo told OSV News. “You go through first Communion and confirmation, and then you go to church on the weekends. But I never felt like I had a relationship with Christ.”
Cairo never wanted to become an actor until he took a class his senior year of high school.
Then, that is all that he could dream of doing.
“We needed a speech class to graduate, so I took an acting class,” Cairo said. “I did not know if I would like it, but I found that it was a great way to express myself through it, and it gave me the desire to learn more about the acting business, and so I moved to LA.”
“There, I just fell more in love with it and did more acting training,” he said.
By 2018, though, Cairo was growing tired of the actor’s life.
“In 2018, I had been in Los Angeles for a few years chasing this dream, but for the wrong reasons,” Cairo said. “I wanted to be an actor so that I could be on TV or could be in the spotlight, and it just wasn’t fulfilling.”
“I was missing family back home, and my relationship with them was deteriorating,” he said. “I just wasn’t talking to them as much and just feeling really lost.”
While talking to a friend, she suggested that Cairo begin to volunteer in his free time and to set specific goals for that year.
Cairo began praying regularly again and within months was cast for a TV show.
“I made a pact to read the Bible every day. I started praying every day, even though I didn’t think I was doing it right,” Cairo said. “What is crazy is that about a few weeks before the new year I had auditioned for ‘The Chosen’ after I heard that they were looking for actors.”
Initially, Cairo was hesitant to audition for “The Chosen.” It was a low-budget production, and faith-based shows rarely succeed.
Yet he was so impressed by the writing and Jenkins’ vision that he took a leap of faith and auditioned.
After a callback, Cairo had a memorable Skype call with Jenkins and other senior team members.
“Dallas told me that ‘we don’t know where we’re going to put you, but we want you on board,'” Cairo said. “I was so excited because the two things I wanted most out of the year, which were to grow closer in my faith and to book a series, came true.”
Acting in “The Chosen” has been a life-changing experience, he said.
“It has made me want to be a better person,” he said. “My character that I portray, Thaddeus, is a peacemaker, and he really tries to see people for who they are and really wants people to feel seen. That is the kind of friend I always wanted and always wanted to be growing up. So, what I’ve really learned is to really love people for who they are.”
Like Cairo, many viewers find that they can relate to characters in the show. He said this was intentional, and it has helped the show to become popular with a large audience.
“If you watch the show, you start seeing pieces of yourself in them,” he said. “You see Simon Peter getting frustrated or feeling like he’s going to lose everything because they gave him taxes. You see Jesus laughing and cracking jokes at a wedding with his disciples. People feel that in person, we do these things with our friends. We relate to the characters.”
When Cairo and the writers began discussing how to portray Thaddeus, also known as St. Jude, they had little to go on. Little is known about Thaddeus other than that he is a saint and that he seemed to be an observer. This gave Cairo the leeway to mold and craft the character to make him relatable.
“He’s a little bit more quiet than a lot of the other disciples are; he is an observer, as I am, too,” Cairo said. “But the one thing is, I didn’t really have the confidence growing up to speak my mind or to stand up for others. But Thaddeus does. Through the show, Thaddeus is teaching me how to be a better person to myself; therefore, I can be a better person to so many other people.”
Over the course of the past seven years, “The Chosen” cast and crew have formed a tight-knit community as they try to portray the life of Christ, a community that Cairo will cherish forever.
“They have become my family, my brothers and my sisters,” he said. “We have gone through so many trials and so many wins together. We’ve laughed together; we’ve cried together. We shared wins and incredible moments. I just love these guys.”
“The Chosen” season five will be released in theaters beginning in March, with a later release to “The Chosen” app for streaming. Even though the show is nearing Christ’s death and resurrection, Cairo knows that “The Chosen” will always remain relevant, as it tells the most timeless story.
“This is the most important story that’s ever been told,” he said. “We all know where this story is headed, but in the grand scheme of things, we all have the responsibility to share it, and that will never end. This is just the very beginning of what we can do as disciples — to show one another love and to spread the Gospel.”
Jack Figge writes for OSV News from Kansas.
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