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[MUSIC PLAYING]
0:48
This is "Undaunted Life" a man's podcast. I'm your host Kyle Thompson. Let's get into it.
0:54
Our guys today, we've got a special guest on the podcast. His name is Noah James, so Noah is an actor who's known for his
0:59
role as Andrew in "The Chosen," which is the TV series about Jesus and the Apostles.
1:04
"The Chosen" is the largest crowd fun and film project of all time, and I think we can safely say at this point that it's probably the most successful one of all time as well.
1:11
Guys, if you're listening to this on time, it is November the 18th.
1:14
Tonight, in theaters, season three is dropping. The first two episodes of season three is dropping tonight in theaters.
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Guys, go get your tickets, go check it out. It's going to be a great time.
1:24
And then the rest of the episodes are going to start dropping in December, so don't worry, guys, if you can't make it to the theaters, you will be able to see season three.
1:29
But I was so thankful to have him on the show to talk a little bit about the series. We didn't have a whole lot of time today, but we did talk about kind of his circuitous route to becoming Andrew from "The Chosen" and kind of what that looked like.
1:40
The point when he and the rest of the crew and the rest of the people on set, when they kind of realized this is something special, like something's happening here, because when most of these people signed on, what people don't realize is they only thought they were going to do about four episodes, and nothing else was guaranteed after that.
1:54
And here we are in the middle of season three, looking forward to a full seven seasons of this series. So we talk about that, but then we also talk about, you know, him being raised as a secular Jew and what that was like coming into Christian entertainment because he didn't have any of the preconceived notions like a lot of us have about Christian, you know, movies and TV shows being corny or weird or terrible or whatever.
2:13
So we came in with kind of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and then when he got in there, he was so, you know, thankful to figure out the types of people that he was going to be working with. We talk about some of the discussions they have on set because there are people of all different face there and they've all kind of connected and talked about that quite a bit.
2:29
We get into season three and what people that love the show and love his character, Andrew, can expect with season three. So I really enjoyed the time I had with him, even though it was a short time.
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I think it went great and it's going to be great for you guys. So without further ado, let's get into it.
2:43
Noah James, welcome to Undaunted Life of Man's podcast.
2:46
Thank you for having me, man. Thank you.
2:49
Hey, we already had a bunch of fun off air. Now we get to carry it over into the interview and I know you've done a bunch of these today, so we'll try to make it worth your while now.
2:56
I know you get asked the same 10 questions all the time, like, hey, what made you want to be an actor and all that kind of stuff. We're going to skip. We're going to skip all that. We're going to go right to the meat of the issue.
3:03
As I understand it, you had a little bit of a circuitous route to becoming Andrew from the chosen. That wasn't exactly like, hey, they brought you in here. Read for Andrew and you got Andrew.
3:12
So take our audience through the entire process of you becoming Andrew from the chosen.
3:16
Yeah, totally. Well, it actually started a year and a half before the chosen. I auditioned for this short film, The Shepherd. I auditioned for The Shepherd and then didn't get it.
3:28
I just went in one time, you know, read for the casting director. They put me on tape, went home, never heard again, which is not uncommon in the acting world.
3:37
And then a half later, I come in and I'll just shoot for the chosen, which I had no idea was even connected to that short film, which, you know, went viral.
3:45
And so I walk into the room and Dallas Jenkins, the creator of the chosen, steps up from behind the table and just says, Noah, thank you so much for coming here. I'm so excited you're here and I never met him before.
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I thought, I was like, he thinks I'm someone else. So fun. I had to tell him, like, dude, I think you are thinking I'm someone else.
4:06
He said, no, you auditioned for The Shepherd. And then I started to connect it. He's like, yeah, you know, you were like up for the role.
4:13
And we specifically asked for you to come in for this, which I had no idea about. And I've never been so thankful to not get a job before, because it's out on about three days of work.
4:26
And now I've been a part of this show for four years. I've been able to play this character. It's just been an incredible ride.
4:34
And it's totally, totally changed my life for the better.
4:38
Well, the thing that's interesting about that listening to you just now and also listening to any of your, your co workers, I guess you could say, the other people that are on screen is you all seem deeply thankful that you're getting this role, because it's always good
4:50
when you have a job to keep getting that job and to keep getting paid to do that job. But talk to me a little bit about how I guess just how thankful you are to be in the position you're in, because I mean, you guys didn't know when you signed on to this thing that it was going to become a global phenomenon.
5:03
No, I mean, when we started, we did the first four episodes of the first season. That's it. And then we went home. We had no idea whether we'd be able to finish the first season, even.
5:13
And so when we left, we just said, well, I hope to see you again, you know, and that was it. And then the fact that the next year we came back, we finished the first season.
5:23
And then when 2020 hit, the show really took off. And I think a lot of people were looking for a show like this, looking for a sense of hope.
5:33
And renewal that the show brought. And then once it really hit an audience, we were able to come back and do more. And I think what it is, is we're not just thankful, obviously, to have this, you know, quote, unquote job. It's not really about thankful that we are a part of something that people tell us all the time that it has affected their lives for the better.
5:55
It has saved them from really dark places. It's helped them through some serious illnesses or family situations. And that, I mean, to hear that day in and day out, it's incredible. It's humbling.
6:07
And that's why we're so grateful because it's so rare to be a part of a project that, you know, touches people that way.
6:15
Yeah, absolutely. And no, one thing that I've noticed as well is that you all realize that at some point, this was going to be special. And it seems like right in the middle of season when you realize that this is going to be special.
6:26
But I mean, you kind of know what most people know, which is that a lot of Christian content is not good. Like, it's just, it's awful. It's corny. And I mean, was there any, I guess, consternation coming into a Christian faith based type of project, knowing what some of the other things end up looking like?
6:43
Well, I just had no, first of all, you know, I actually would come from outside of the Christian faith. I have a Jewish secular upbringing. I had no idea what I was going to be involved with. And when I got on set,
6:55
it was the most like welcoming, amazing cast and crew. And we all came to this project with just the utmost respect. And we wanted to tell this story as well as we possibly could. And I'm telling you, man,
7:09
but we put our blood, sweat, and tears literally into this. And it's so cool to have a cast and crew that approaches it with that much passion and just wants to tell the story because we see how much it affects people globally. We know how much of this story means to people across the world.
7:27
And so to us, it's like we just do our best every single day to come in as early sometimes as that may be as as hard as the sun is shining that day.
7:38
We just try to come in and do the best work we can. And hopefully that shows on the screen.
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8:12
Well, that's interesting. You come from outside of the kind of that Christian faith based space. So, I mean, would you consider yourself right now? Are you still secular Jew or is that kind of something that you're still in the process of figuring out?
8:23
Well, I am Jewish and, you know, it's funny because to me, it's like coming at this from totally from the outside. Right. Right.
8:32
It's almost been like what better way to learn about the teachings of Jesus or to like hear the Sermon on the Mount? Like I didn't know about Sermon before the show.
8:42
And then one day I'm standing there amongst 2,500 people hearing those words. It's almost like there's no better way to learn about the teachings of Jesus.
8:55
I mean, I'm sitting at the table across from Jonathan who plays Jesus. And I think that gets lost. You know, I think a lot of people from outside of the Christian faith.
9:05
You know, I don't know, get sometimes maybe pushed away or they see things that aren't really just what is the message of Jesus? What was dang.
9:16
And to me, it's been really eye opening. You know, it's been, I think my mind is totally opened to this in a way that I may have had reservations about in the past.
9:29
It's also working with, you know, Dallas, like Dallas, the creator of the show. It's just incredible, dude. And I don't know whether I would have ever met him if it wasn't for the show.
9:39
We have these, you know, deep conversations, all of us cast crew about, you know, the meanings of life, the teachings of Jesus. And it's, it's been, it's been nothing but eye opening.
9:50
Well, I know you didn't ask for any advice, but I have one little piece of advice for those conversations that you go into.
9:55
Some people go into those conversations as a cynic and I would encourage them to go into that conversation as a skeptic because a cynic can't have their mind changed at all.
10:04
And the skeptic is going to ask really, really important core level questions that kind of cut away all the other nonsense. So as you're on that journey.
10:12
Obviously, I would tell you, you know, look at the actual words of Jesus has described in the New Testament and then approach it like a skeptic would and not a cynic.
10:20
And even beyond that, you know, I'm sure a lot of people have been turned off from Christianity because of some of the things that their followers have done and said, but you don't blame Beethoven for somebody else playing Beethoven poorly.
10:30
And so that that's another thing that I've heard a lot of people say as well. So tell me a little bit more about some of those conversations because it's interesting for people to know that not everybody on the set is an evangelical conservative Christian.
10:41
You know what I mean? Like there are people from all these different faith backgrounds. So give me a little bit more on that because I bet a lot of people think it's going to be, you know, disputations headbudding the whole time.
10:50
No, you know, it's funny because, you know, a lot of us, we come from, we are artists, we're actors and, you know, I think a lot of people think we're very strange.
11:00
And we are strange. It's like if this is 100 years ago, we'd be in a wagon traveling town to town putting on little shows.
11:08
So we approach stuff with that mindset, with a questioning mindset, a curiosity, an openness also of spirit. And so, you know, we'll stay up till four in the morning discussing a scene or something that happened in the world today
11:27
and all the differing viewpoints and we don't attack each other. We just really love and respect each other. And we, yeah, I mean, you have all different faith backgrounds, political backgrounds, everything.
11:39
And I think that's something that the world needs more of. We need to be able to talk and know that, you know, you can disagree and that's okay.
11:47
You can still love each other and approach each other with respect and really just question each other and try to get to the kernel of, of, well, we're all living here.
11:57
What, what the truth of the matter is, and we're trying to do that.
12:00
Well, and you're doing a great job. And obviously season three of the chosen guys, if you're listening to this on time, today is November the 18th, you can go to theaters tonight and watch the first two episodes and then the rest of the episodes drop in December.
12:12
So what can fans of the chosen and Andrew specifically expect with season three and we'll make that the last question of the day.
12:18
Season three, you get to see the disciples really become the apostles. You see us sent out for the first time two by two to the surrounding towns trying to preach the words of Jesus.
12:32
And you see the anxieties, the insecurities, the doubt that comes along with that. You see a lot of the disciples not know whether we're worthy to be carrying out that mission.
12:43
You see us fighting with each other. You see us trying our hardest to live that out. And honestly, there are a lot of, there are high highs and low lows this season.
12:56
It's a challenging ride. And I think with that, you'll see the most rewarding season yet. It's no secret that we, we get to the feeding of the 5000 by the end.
13:08
And that event, like we had 12,000 people fly in from across the country, from across the world, even to come with us under, you know, a hundred and whatever five degree heat in the Texas field.
13:20
And we just tried our best to really bring that like incredible, incredible biblical story to life. And I think it's going to be something special to behold for sure.
13:30
I'm so glad you guys don't shy away from the high highs and also the low lows in the darkness. I think it's great for the authenticity of the show. But no, that's all for me. Is there anything else you want to get off your chest?
13:39
Just thank you, Kyle. It's been a great conversation. And dude, I love the mustache too. I know you were saying you didn't like it. I think it's cool.
13:46
And I think the man. Noah, I didn't say I didn't like it. I'm saying not everybody in my household likes it. I happen to think it's awesome. And I've been welcomed into like three biker gangs just going to get groceries here.
13:57
Oh, but man, I really do appreciate all your time today. No, James, thank you for coming on a Daunton Life of Man's podcast. Thank you, Kyle.
14:04
There you go, guys. Hope you enjoyed my interview with Noah James. But before we let you go, we are going to do a quick resilience boost at undaunted life. Our mission is equipping men to push back darkness with content that for just spiritual, mental and physical resilience.
14:15
I think I've got for you today is linked to where you can go and watch and support the chosen guys. Go and check it out. It is well worth your time. All right, guys. Thanks so much for listening to the show. We do appreciate it. Wherever you're listening to this, please subscribe, rate and leave us a positive five star of you.
14:27
If you want me to come speak live at your event or on your podcast, just shoot me an email to info at undaunted life. That's I N F O and on to not life.
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Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook and check out our website for everything else, including how to donate to keep more content like this coming your way.
14:40
Just go to www dot undaunted dot life. And as always, we want to thank the band August Burns read for allowing us to use their music for our content. The music on this podcast is our song cutting the tides, which is off their 10th anniversary re recording of their album Leveler.
14:52
The links are in the description. I'm your host, Kyle Thompson. Remember, keep pushing back darkness. Keep forging spiritual, mental and physical resilience. Keep seeking the lion of Judah.
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I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know.