Actors David Amito, Amy Bailey 'Grateful' for Their 'Chosen' Experience

As the final episodes of Season 4 of The Chosen debut in theaters this weekend, one can’t help but notice the exponential growth the video series has experienced since making its debut in 2019.

In an exclusive, staggered episode release to theaters during the month of February, the Dallas Jenkins-directed stories about the life and times of Jesus Christ, have generated more $40 million dollars in box office earnings and will add even more with the release of Episodes 7 and 8.

Due to its enhanced presence, many of the actors in the series have become faith-based household names. Jonathan Roumie (Jesus), Elizabeth Tabish (Mary Magdalene), and Shahar Isaac (Simon Peter) have each forged an indelible presence to the estimated 500 million people who have watched at least one episode.

For actors David Amito and Amy Bailey, their ‘Chosen’ experience has been quite fulfilling yet surreal at times. Portraying John the Baptist and Joanna respectively, both Amito and Bailey are quite grateful for being cast in what may eventually become the most popular program based on the life of Jesus in modern media history.

I recently sat down with Amito and Bailey to discuss what viewers can expect from their characters this season, what the series means to them personally, and why Season 4 is seen as the tipping point for what lies ahead.

For every actor, there always seems to be a trigger, a tipping point, a moment, where you say to yourself, “I have to be a part of this project!” For this show, what was that moment for you?

Amy Bailey: I've mentioned this before. When I got the audition, I didn't know the show very well. It had only gone for two seasons. So, I did that actor thing. I furiously started Googling, and it was almost immediate. Truthfully, I hadn't even watched a full episode. But I saw how brilliant the actors were, and how great the production was. And I went, oh yeah, this is the real deal. I had no idea it was going to be this good and this big. But it got me as soon as I saw an episode. It was a random episode in Season 1.

David Amito: I was already in the project when I found out that I should be grateful to be in it. I was already working with all the crew. The team behind it is just the most creative, welcoming bunch you can imagine. And the story that we were all coming together to tell was in such an atmosphere. It was like no other set I've ever been on. And immediately I was like, wow, I wish all sets that I've been on had been this collaborative, this kind, this generous, this personable. That's where my gratitude has really been the most profound. It's with the people I'm working with.

Have you been surprised by the seemingly exponential growth of the series from season to season?

Amy Bailey: Anyone knows that in any creative endeavor that you're always trying to top yourself. And that's really hard when you're already doing an excellent job. This is because we never know how things are going to be received. There have been many productions that have the cream of the crop in our industry, best actors, best everything that money can buy, and it will still flop, and no one knows why. And everyone was going to say, this is going to be a hit and there's so much money behind it, and then it just doesn't happen. So nobody ever knows, even if we read the script and think this is brilliant. It's going to be so great, and it feels good when we shoot it. But we don't know how good until people start watching it and we get feedback from our audience whether they like it.

I go back with the series prior to season one. A friend of Dallas Jenkins called me up and asked me to come down to the set. He said, “We're filming this new show called The Chosen. Can you come down to the set, hang out for a bit, and write a nice feature article about it?” I was kind of like, I don't know about that. But he kept asking me. So finally, I went down and they were literally filming Season 1, Episode 1, when I was there. And they were filming in this warehouse in Dallas, Texas. And quite frankly, it was in a seedy area of town. So what I'm trying to say is this show truly had humble beginnings. It's been just amazing to watch the growth of this show from season to season to season. We are now in Season 4. David, you play John the Baptist and Amy, you play Joanna. What can viewers expect to see from your characters this season?

Amy Bailey: I think they know what's coming for JTB (John the Baptist), don't they?

David Amito: Well, I think everyone has known this was coming. My social media feed is definitely filled with a bunch of people that are dreading it and sending me teary-eyed emojis. So, there's been teary-eyed emojis coming for a few years now because they always thought it was the next season. And to be honest, every season that I was on, I was like, all right, well, I’m a dead man walking. I'm dying this season. And yet I've kept going until Season 4, which is already kind of a surprise. So, what can they expect? I think everyone knows what they're expecting. But I hope that they're surprised by how it unfolds. It's something to witness. I don't want to take away from that experience, but we all know what's coming.

What do the stories told in The Chosen mean to you personally? How do you each personally relate to your character?

Amy Bailey: The writing is so good that they've managed to match up actors in an interesting way with their characters as well. I find that especially with our disciples. They all have these very particular personality quirks. But I'm careful never to do that, as I don't do method acting. You could do that where you really kind of dig into your own personal experiences in order to portray whatever emotion, especially when painful emotion is going on with the character. But I stay away from that. I learned that the hard way as a young actor. But if the character's written well, it's really easy to get into. And I said this in a previous interview that Joanna is going through a very modern dilemma because she is dealing with the entrapment of material wealth and all the happiness that she thought that was going to bring her. And then she realizes it's all for naught. It means absolutely nothing. In fact, she is desperately unhappy. And so, when she stumbles upon John the Baptist and Jesus's message, and she witnesses all these poor people who have nothing, but they have all the joy and love that she is missing in her life. So, that's a pretty pertinent, salient thing that's happening now. So, I personalize that in my life. Joanna is a very humbling character to play.

David Amito: There's a lot of trust in the casting process that you've been cast in. And you just hope that you just kind of own it. And I think that's what it's been. They saw something in me for John the Baptist, their vision of John the Baptist. And when I say they, I mean Dallas (Jenkins) first and foremost, but also Ryan Swanson and Tyler Thompson. So they're like this is how we see it. And so I just kind of trust that and then start to incorporate how I feel about things with it, which I'm sure Amy will attest to. We all want that connection between us and our character, where the character's emotions are our emotions. And if it's something that doesn't feel right, not to judge it, but just accept that as being a part of the character's experience.

Final question for you both. I had the privilege of attending the Los Angeles premiere of Season 4 a few weeks ago. And something that I noticed was the fans. There were fans all around that event, and they were very passionate to say the least about this show. So, my question for you both is, do you have a ‘The Chosen’ fan interaction story that means a lot to you that you could share?

Amy Bailey: I will tell you that there is a lovely group out there called Pray for the Chosen. They're on Instagram. They're so sweet and they meet every week to pray for all of us. And I'm talking about anyone associated with the show. From the person who gets everybody's costumes and coffee to the electricians and right up to Dallas (Jenkins), the producers and all the actors. They pray for us. They contacted me one time and they were just so loving and said, “Can we pray for you?” And I was like, absolutely, you can pray for me. And who does that these days? They don't even know me. And offering to gather together as a community and pray for me and my family specifically, I was just overwhelmed. That's lovely. 

David Amito: That's awesome. I've had a lot of people reaching out with art that they've made for John the Baptist. I've been posting it on my social media. A lot of really gifted artists are doing that. And I love the idea that my own art can, or art in general, can contribute to more art being created. So, it's such a creative atmosphere. But there's also a lady named June, a wonderful woman from Canada that I've never met that just writes to me so frequently about … I had a dog, a blind albino chewie that had this catastrophic event where she just started bleeding and we rushed her to the hospital. And I posted about it because I think we were also trying to raise some money because she has some expensive medical bills that we just weren't expecting.

And now, pretty much every month, June will reach out with, “How's the lady doing? Is she doing okay?” And she's just checking up on me and my dog, and telling us about John the Baptist. It's really wild to see the kind of friendships that the show can make. Of course, you also get fans, but surprisingly a lot of friendships have come about through it that are more than your typical kind of fandom. It's been really beautiful.

WATCH A TRAILER OF SEASON 4 OF THE CHOSEN: