Filmmaker Andrew Erwin has no role in the Bible-based hit series The Chosen – not as a director, producer or even as an on-screen extra.
Nevertheless, he took time out of his busy schedule to trek to Atlanta in mid-November and watch the box office premiere of The Chosen: Season 3, which opened in the Top 5 nationwide before transitioning to streaming platforms on December 11.
"I'm just a fan," Erwin told Christian Headlines.
Erwin is known in the film industry as the director of I Can Only Imagine, American Underdog, I Still Believe and other faith-based hits. He was an executive producer of the new documentary Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Underdog.
He calls himself a "late adopter" of The Chosen and is friends with director Dallas Jenkins. The series, Erwin said, is popular because it is unique in exploring Jesus' humanity.
"There's a lot of different portrayals of Christ that had been done" that did not do what The Chosen has done, Erwin said.
"[Jesus] was divine, but He was a human, too. … [Jenkins] did emotional archaeology and made Him very relatable in a way that I don't think a lot of products have. [Jenkins] honored the text, but he filled in the lines between the text, asking those great filmmaker questions of, 'What must it have felt like?' And I think it allowed there to be an entry point that feels very modern but very historically accurate. And so I adore the show; I enjoy the characters."
Erwin said his favorite character is Matthew, whose character was written to be on the Asperger's/autism spectrum.
"That idea of as a filmmaker being obsessed with the details, being a little OCD – we all have a little bit of that," Erwin said. "It's a great show."
Erwin's next film, The Jesus Revolution, releases in theaters on February 24. He is a producer.
Photo courtesy: ©Ronald Pollard for K-LOVE Fan Awards, used with permission.
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
