0:00
(upbeat music)
0:02
- This is Undaunted Life, a man's podcast.
0:21
I'm your host Kyle Thompson.
0:23
Let's get into it.
0:24
Our guys today we got a special guest on the podcast.
0:26
Her name is Lotta Silva.
0:27
She's an actress and she is known for her role
0:29
as Eden, that is Peter's wife in The Chosen,
0:32
the TV series about Jesus and the Apostles.
0:34
Guys, if you're not familiar with The Chosen,
0:35
go back and listen to our interview
0:36
with Dallas Jenkins from earlier this week,
0:38
but it's the largest crowdfunded film project of all time.
0:41
And I think it's pretty safe to say now
0:42
that it's the most successful crowdfunded project
0:44
of all time as well.
0:45
And guys, if you're listening to this on time,
0:47
season three is going to launch tonight.
0:49
So if you're listening on time,
0:50
it's gonna launch tonight, November the 18th.
0:53
The first two episodes are being shown in theaters.
0:55
And so the rest of the season will start releasing
0:57
December and guys, you'll be able to get access
0:59
to the entire thing, but it's pretty awesome.
1:01
That is starting that early.
1:02
But I really enjoyed my time with her.
1:03
We didn't have a whole lot of time
1:05
to get into some different things on the show,
1:06
but we talked a lot about, you know,
1:08
why she wanted to even become an actress.
1:11
She didn't start up growing up here.
1:12
She started in Brazil and then she came to the United States,
1:15
but why did she want to pursue being an actress?
1:17
Her whole process of how she even became Eden
1:20
of The Chosen, kind of getting an audition
1:22
and then being able to kind of be moved around
1:23
into that specific role.
1:25
What it's like playing somebody that isn't described
1:28
in detail in scripture because obviously we don't know,
1:31
we know that Peter had a why, but we basically don't know
1:32
much else about her, but you know, what it was like
1:35
being on set with a bunch of people that didn't share
1:37
her faith in Christ and how that affected her.
1:40
One of my favorite scenes in the entirety of the show,
1:42
we kind of dig in and get a behind the scenes look at that.
1:45
And you know, we talk also as well about,
1:47
when did she know she was part of something this special?
1:50
Because obviously we know now that it's wildly successful,
1:52
but whenever they were first, you know,
1:54
doing the first few episodes, they didn't know
1:55
that I was going to become a global phenomenon.
1:57
But then we talk about, you know, what the future
1:59
of this series is going to look like.
2:01
So I really enjoyed my time with her.
2:02
I think you guys will as well.
2:03
So without further ado, let's get into it.
2:06
- A lot of civil, welcome to Undaunted Life of Man's podcast.
2:10
- Thank you.
2:10
Thanks for having me, Kyle.
2:12
(speaking in foreign language)
2:16
- No, I'm supposed to guess (speaking in foreign language)
2:20
- Okay, I'm going to be real honest with you.
2:21
- I'm impressed.
2:22
- I have no idea what you said back to me
2:24
because I would just be real honest with you
2:27
from the beginning.
2:27
My brother-in-law is from Brazil and I'm like,
2:29
hey, I want to give her a unique greeting today.
2:31
So he helped me with that.
2:32
So was it okay for five minutes of practice?
2:35
- Kyle, that was great.
2:36
I understood exactly what you said and it was awesome.
2:39
You nailed it.
2:40
- I'm pretty sure guys that I told her,
2:42
thank you for coming on my podcast
2:44
or welcome or something like that.
2:45
So that's what we're going to go with.
2:46
But you know, let's kind of, you know,
2:48
tease that into the first question here.
2:49
So obviously as a generic way to start,
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you are a professional actress.
2:53
That's what you do for a living.
2:54
But you didn't start out living here in the United States.
2:56
As far as I understand it,
2:57
you grew up at least part of your childhood in Brazil,
3:00
but you did eventually move to the United States
3:02
and then you became an actress.
3:03
So we don't have all the time in the world today.
3:05
So how about you give us that whole background
3:07
of how you ended up here and how you ended up as an actress?
3:09
- Yeah.
3:10
So yeah, I was born in Brazil.
3:12
My mom got hit with the American dream
3:14
like so many immigrants do.
3:15
She landed in South Florida and met who I consider now
3:18
my father, he raised me, he was military.
3:22
He was a police officer as well.
3:23
So it was, after they got married,
3:25
I think it was easier for them to, you know,
3:27
get my visa, get me to America
3:30
and then just, you know,
3:32
be able to just give me a better life.
3:34
So yeah, I'm really, really grateful for my mom
3:38
and her bravery.
3:39
And I, yeah, I didn't know what I wanted to do growing up.
3:43
I didn't know acting wasn't always
3:45
something that I thought that I could pursue
3:47
or that I was good at.
3:48
I had no idea until just later in life, you know,
3:51
I went to college for, I wanted to be a nurse.
3:55
And then I realized, yeah, I was good at it
3:57
and I loved it, but I just felt misplaced.
4:00
I didn't quite feel like that is where my calling was.
4:03
I knew that I wasn't gonna be super happy.
4:06
And so I made the abrupt decision to actually leave college
4:10
and then I just felt into a depression
4:12
because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.
4:14
I was just trying to make a living really just bartending
4:18
and I was in the restaurant industry for such a long time.
4:21
That's all that I knew.
4:23
But yeah, I just felt like something was missing
4:25
and honestly, it wasn't until I just asked myself,
4:29
like, what am I gonna do?
4:31
One of my best friends gave me the nudge
4:33
and the, just the encouragement to just go after it.
4:37
Like what was the last thing you were doing
4:39
that made you truly happy?
4:40
And it was putting on plays and shows
4:43
and performances in elementary school.
4:45
So it just kind of brought me back to that.
4:47
And I just was like, I'm just gonna go for it.
4:50
And I started a little bit later in life,
4:53
but honestly, I found my faith a little later in life too.
4:57
So it's like, I can't tell my acting journey
4:59
without finding my faith in all of that as well
5:02
because it's a tough industry to go after.
5:05
And honestly, when I gave my life to Jesus,
5:09
I feel like he truly spoke to me in open doors
5:12
that needed to be open and also closed some.
5:14
And then it brought me to a faith-based show
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that's now just hitting globally and it is mind-blowing.
5:21
So I pinched myself still.
5:24
- Yeah, it's a pretty awesome thing to watch.
5:25
And we'll certainly get to your personal faith
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more here in a second.
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But obviously the chosen, you play Eden.
5:30
That's Peter's wife on that show.
5:31
And so I kind of want to know what was the process like
5:34
for you getting selected to play that role?
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But then also, Eden is not somebody
5:39
that's described in scripture.
5:40
So you don't exactly have source material
5:42
that you can go to to kind of get an idea.
5:44
And like, did they kind of make your personality,
5:47
Eden's personality?
5:48
Or are you like playing Eden?
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'Cause Eden is obviously a very sweet and kind act,
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like, you know, person,
5:55
but then also very fierce at the same time.
5:57
So take me through that.
5:59
- Yeah, when I first got the audition, honestly,
6:02
even that was just a God-given moment
6:06
because I was with a really small agency.
6:08
It's kind of, you know, with the acting world,
6:10
you don't quite know what you're gonna get.
6:12
So it was a mutual friend that saw the audition come out
6:17
and she thought of me for the role of Mary Magdalene first,
6:21
actually.
6:21
So I auditioned for the role of Mary Magdalene
6:24
and just loved, loved the scripts.
6:28
And I was like, this is something special.
6:29
Nothing's been done like this before.
6:31
What an honor to even get to audition
6:33
and get the opportunity.
6:34
And Dallas Jenkins, our director, saw it.
6:36
And I think he loved it,
6:38
but I think he had a different role in mind for me.
6:40
So I then auditioned for the role of Eden
6:43
and that was such a, just a connection,
6:46
like a perfect spiritual fit in a sense as well.
6:50
And the way that she was described,
6:53
I was like, this is me.
6:55
I'm like, this could be me.
6:57
A lot of times when you audition for things,
6:58
you're like trying to be what they,
7:01
what you think they want you to be.
7:02
But for me, it was like, wow,
7:03
I feel like I can do this.
7:05
And I just, I honestly preyed on it
7:08
because we don't know a lot about Eden in scripture.
7:12
I don't even think she had a name.
7:13
We just know that Jesus healed her mother in loss.
7:15
So I was nervous and I was just like,
7:18
I just wanna bring this character to life
7:21
and do her justice.
7:22
So I had to dig into myself and find out,
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well, what makes me me and how can I incorporate my truth,
7:31
my experiences, everything that I am
7:34
into Eden because that's all I can go off of.
7:37
I have nothing else.
7:39
And yeah, and I, it worked.
7:42
And I think that that's why people really relate to her
7:46
as well, especially the women.
7:48
And yeah, she, we are each other.
7:51
I've learned so much in playing Eden as well.
7:54
So it's awesome.
7:55
- LinkedIn is pretty great at a lot of things.
7:58
Like helping you tap into the latest trends
8:00
and insights in your field.
8:01
We cannot stop your co-worker from tapping her pencil.
8:05
LinkedIn can help you find new jobs
8:07
that align with your career goals.
8:09
We cannot help you find the source of that weird smell
8:12
in the office fridge.
8:13
Yeah.
8:14
And while we can't stop your co-workers
8:16
from bringing their hobbies into the office,
8:19
LinkedIn can help you bring your career to the next level.
8:22
LinkedIn is the network that works for you.
8:25
- Well, what's very interesting about that
8:27
is whenever I read through scriptural,
8:28
like I see a lot of myself and Peter
8:30
and I don't mean the good parts.
8:31
I mean, the bad parts.
8:32
And so like I've gotten Eden like wife
8:35
because I kind of have to have a wife like that.
8:37
I need a lioness to kind of like help me
8:39
with some of my rougher edges,
8:40
but still very, very sweet and very, very kind
8:43
and loving in those things as well.
8:44
But not willing to just let me just go off half-cocked
8:48
at all times.
8:49
And so you've mentioned several times your personal faith.
8:51
And we know when we had Dallas on the show earlier
8:53
this week, he talked about,
8:54
hey, not everybody on set is a believer in Christ.
8:57
And not everybody that's on screen is a believer
8:59
in all these different things.
9:00
So it's interesting that you do have such a strong faith,
9:04
but not everybody on set does.
9:06
Do you feel like that has affected the overall product?
9:09
Does that affect you necessarily?
9:11
I just kind of give me a sense of what it's like
9:12
to work on a faith-based project that is great,
9:15
but not everybody else shares your same sentiments.
9:17
- Yeah, I honestly love that.
9:19
I absolutely love that my cast mates
9:22
are from all everywhere in the world.
9:24
They have different cultural backgrounds
9:26
and experiences and faiths.
9:28
And I mean, and it's still the show has brought us together.
9:33
So I love that Dallas and the creators
9:35
didn't make that a thing where it's like,
9:37
oh, we only need faith-based actors.
9:39
No, they were looking for the right people for the role.
9:43
And I believe that that God really brought us all together
9:48
and to make the best possible show that we can make
9:53
regardless of where these people were from
9:55
or what they believe.
9:56
And it's a testament because it's, I mean,
9:59
here we are and the show is incredible.
10:01
And I just, I love my cast mates, they're my family.
10:04
So that has been just everything.
10:07
It's meant everything because it's so rare
10:10
that you get to work with people that you genuinely love
10:13
and mesh with and there's no ego,
10:15
there's no, you know, none of that on the set.
10:18
And yeah, it's, I just, I can't believe
10:22
that we're all here doing this.
10:24
- Well, and you're not just doing something,
10:26
you're doing something that kind of what you alluded to earlier
10:28
a lot of is that this is a global phenomenon.
10:31
And so I guess for you individually,
10:33
at what point in the process of either filming season one
10:38
or the release of it or something,
10:39
at what point did you realize or begin to realize
10:41
that this is something different?
10:43
Like I'm part of something really special.
10:45
- Wow.
10:47
So I think honestly after we filmed the first four episodes
10:52
of season one, we didn't know whether we would have
10:55
funding to finish the rest of the season.
10:59
We just thought, well, we're given this a shot here.
11:02
We'll see where it goes.
11:03
But, you know, we can't, hopefully we're,
11:06
we're all kind of wearing our heart on our sleeves here
11:08
with this, we can't get our hopes up,
11:10
but God really showed out and truly came in and man,
11:15
our fans, we couldn't have done it without them.
11:20
And so to see it go from season one
11:24
and then it blew up, honestly, after that was released,
11:28
how our fan base started to grow.
11:31
I think around that time was when I was like,
11:33
"Oh, this is gonna be huge."
11:34
And then when you see the seasons,
11:36
you see how impactful they are and how beautifully it's done.
11:40
I knew that if people just gave it a shot,
11:43
regardless of, you know, what they,
11:46
where they come from or what they believe,
11:48
just to watch it and see the art and the beauty
11:52
and the storytelling and telling the greatest story
11:55
I ever told has been, wow, my blowing.
11:59
- Yeah, I mean, art, beauty, storytelling,
12:01
those are things that are not necessarily indicative
12:03
of a lot of faith-based projects
12:04
that you're gonna see out there.
12:05
And that's why I avoided it until season two
12:08
is already well on out because I was like,
12:09
yeah, I don't really care.
12:10
But it wasn't until I saw like pictures of people
12:12
from the cast.
12:13
And I'm like, oh, those look like,
12:14
that could be Middle Eastern Jews.
12:16
It's not like a bunch of people that look like me,
12:18
that they kind of like, you know,
12:19
make our beards a little darker.
12:20
And then like, yeah, let's kind of walk through.
12:22
I thought it was a special thing,
12:23
but then when you start watching it,
12:24
the betrayals are incredibly interesting.
12:27
But they're specifically with you and with your character,
12:30
there's one scene that is,
12:31
it's a sticky scene in my brain of all the scenes
12:34
from the show.
12:35
And it's one that doesn't have the character,
12:37
Jesus, Jonathan Rumi in it.
12:38
And I can't remember if it's season one or season two,
12:40
but this is when Peter is, you know, realizing like,
12:43
I need to follow this, this Jesus guy,
12:45
I don't really know what's going on.
12:47
And you kind of like turn your shoulder and you're crying.
12:49
And he automatically goes to where I would go to,
12:51
like, ah, crap, she's upset.
12:52
What do I say?
12:53
Like, you know, I really believe in this Jesus guy,
12:55
but I got to take care of my wife.
12:56
And then you turn back around and you're like, no,
12:58
this is exactly the thing.
13:00
This is exactly what you should be doing.
13:02
And that is such an incredible scene.
13:04
Like, take me through that because like,
13:05
most people when they cry on film, I just laugh
13:07
because it's so funny.
13:08
And it doesn't like in the least bit make sense
13:11
or is believable.
13:12
But man, that's a crazy scene, at least for me it is.
13:15
- Yeah, that's one of my favorite scenes.
13:17
I'm so glad you brought it up.
13:18
It was one of the longest scenes, honestly, for me as an actor.
13:23
And what a gift it was to go through a rollercoaster
13:26
of emotions and when we're going, you know, the beginning,
13:28
I'm still upset with him because we had a fight
13:30
the night before, you know, he told me we're in debt
13:33
and he's been hiding things for me.
13:35
And, you know, I'm telling him that I need him to be the man
13:38
that I married.
13:40
And so then he comes to me and he tells me,
13:43
like, I've decided I'm, this is the Messiah
13:46
and I'm gonna drop everything and go.
13:48
And that was just man.
13:52
It was, I think that everyone felt seen somehow
13:56
in that scene, in that scene because you want your spouse
14:00
or your family, your friends to believe in you
14:04
and to support you in the decisions that you make
14:09
that your heart is truly leading you to.
14:11
And so to have that meant everything to Simon
14:16
and it meant everything to Eden.
14:17
And she was like, this is what I need.
14:20
Like, this is the man that I married.
14:22
And then, you know, we end up with us kind of reminiscing
14:25
about our wedding day and there's like some, you know,
14:28
some fun memories and we're laughing at the end of it.
14:30
So it's just such a beautiful portrayal of a marriage
14:34
and just a beautiful relationship
14:36
and how it should be in my eye, you know, how it should be.
14:38
So, yeah, it was incredible.
14:41
It's one of my favorite things.
14:42
- Well, all that's real, like every, every smile,
14:46
every wink, every, I guess like eye roll,
14:49
like the frustration, like anyone that's been on the receiving
14:52
end of an eye roll from a lioness knows exactly
14:54
what that feels like.
14:55
I am certainly speaking for firsthand experience,
14:57
but for you, I guess give the audience some red meat
15:00
for this season.
15:01
What can fans of the chosen Eden and Peter
15:03
expect with season three?
15:05
- For season three, we are going to see a lot more,
15:10
just, you know, the best way to describe it is that
15:15
it's not always a joyous moments in marriage.
15:18
There's not always, always rainbows.
15:22
So there's some really deep things that we dive into,
15:26
some real pain, some hurt, you know,
15:30
just I think especially with Eden,
15:32
she goes through realizing, you know,
15:35
she's a strong woman of faith,
15:37
but that's not always in real life.
15:40
That's not always how we feel at all times.
15:42
Sometimes we feel like, where's God in all of this?
15:46
Why is this going on?
15:48
And I feel like he's not here, you know?
15:53
So we're going to see a lot of that
15:56
and the meat and that, some of the ugly.
16:00
And I love when the faith-based projects are especially,
16:04
we are not afraid to write in some of the,
16:08
some of the really just hurtful real things
16:13
that we go through in life as humans.
16:16
So I'm excited for everyone to see.
16:18
- Real life is gritty and it's dark.
16:20
Look at episode one, it starts out with, you know,
16:22
one of the darkest scenes you'll see
16:23
in any faith-based project with Mary Magdalene,
16:26
you know, being overcome by a demon and things like that.
16:28
We'll make this the last question of the day.
16:29
The future of the chosen, where do you see this going?
16:31
'Cause obviously we've been told there's going to be
16:33
about seven seasons of this.
16:34
So we're not even halfway through.
16:35
Where do you see this going in terms of it
16:37
becoming an even bigger phenomenon than it is?
16:40
- Wow, I think I'm with the chosen one.
16:43
Their goal is for us to be able to hit a billion people
16:48
and that's a goal I think that we can attain.
16:52
And I'm just hopeful and I pray that that is where it's going,
16:56
that we are able to be seen and just lives are changing
17:01
and quite literally being saved.
17:04
So that this is bigger than us.
17:07
The show is bigger than all of that.
17:10
And I think that's really the goal that we want to make.
17:15
- That's fantastic, that's all for me.
17:17
Is there anything else you want to get off your chest?
17:19
- Ah, man, I'm just so excited for our audience
17:22
to see season three.
17:23
I cannot wait.
17:25
Yeah, we're excited.
17:27
The first two episodes will be released in theaters tomorrow.
17:31
And I just hope that people go out and see it
17:34
and see what we've worked so hard on.
17:36
- Absolutely, guys, on November the 18th in theaters,
17:39
you can get your tickets now.
17:40
You guys are not going to want to miss this for sure.
17:43
A lot of silver, thank you so much
17:44
for coming on Daunted Life of Man's podcast.
17:46
- Thank you, Kyle, so appreciate it.
17:48
- There you go, guys.
17:49
I hope you enjoyed my time with a lot of silver,
17:50
but before we let you go,
17:51
we are going to do a quick resilience boost.
17:53
Add on Daunted Life, our mission is equipping men
17:55
to push back darkness with content
17:56
that forges spiritual, mental, and physical resilience.
17:59
So the link I've got for you today
18:00
is where you can go to watch and support the chosen.
18:03
So, guys, make sure you go out and do that.
18:05
And if you're available tonight,
18:06
go buy a ticket and watch the first two episodes in theaters.
18:08
All right, guys, thanks so much for listening to the show.
18:10
We do appreciate it wherever you're listening to this.
18:11
Please subscribe, rate, and leave us a positive five-star view.
18:14
If you want me to come and speak live at your event
18:16
or on your podcast, just shoot me an email
18:17
to info@undontadotlife.
18:19
That's I-N-F-O @undontadotlife.
18:21
Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook
18:23
and check out our website for everything else,
18:24
including how to donate to keep more content
18:26
like this coming your way.
18:27
Just go to www.undontadotlife.
18:29
And as always, we want to thank the band,
18:30
August Burns Red, for allowing us to use their music
18:32
for our content.
18:33
The music on this podcast is our song "Cutting the Tides,"
18:35
which is off their 10th anniversary
18:37
re-recording of their album, "Leveler."
18:39
The links are in the description.
18:40
I'm your host, Kyle Thompson.
18:42
Remember, keep pushing back darkness,
18:45
keep forging spiritual, mental, and physical resilience.
18:49
Keep seeking the Lion of Judah.
18:51
(upbeat music)
18:54
♪ I know I live, there's a heart inside ♪
18:58
♪ I know you want, it's a side based end ♪
19:03
♪ It's a virtue ♪
19:06
♪ You will be revived ♪