‘The Chosen’ director defends comments about Mormons and Jesus

By Katelyn Webb, Monday, March 04, 2024

“The Chosen” creator Dallas Jenkins recently weighed in on some of the controversies he’s faced in recent years, including the presence of a gay camera operator with a pride flag on set and his relationship with friends in the Latter-day Saints community.

In a lengthy interview with The Beat’s Allen Parr, posted online last Tuesday, the 48-year-old opened up about how his past struggles with narcissism and pornography have shaped his journey.

“I used to be someone who sought and needed affirmation. … I struggled with narcissism,” Jenkins said.

After his film “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone” flopped in 2017, Jenkins said he was forced to face his people-pleasing tendencies and replace toxic habits with Scripture, something he said turned out to be life-changing.

“I had a long-term struggle with pornography that went dormant for years because I was doing well and hadn’t struggled with it, and then it kind of had a relapse,” he said. “And I went, ‘Alright,’ I was married at the time. I have kids, ‘This can’t happen again. And it’s not enough for me to just have all these protections on my computer. I need to change the heart of what causes this idolatry or this addiction.'”

“So the habit of wanting to get affirmed, or the habit of lust or whatever, I restarted replacing with Scripture,” he said. “I really have become someone who has replaced my desire to please or to avoid criticism with God’s desires. … On a personal level, does it hurt my feelings? Does it impact my family? It really, really doesn’t. And that takes time. It takes effort. It takes replacing those thoughts with Scripture, but it has happened to it has gotten to a place where I can chuckle at it sometimes.”

It’s this mentality that Jenkins said has sustained him while “The Chosen” has faced criticism as it continues to grow in popularity.

The first multi-season series to follow the Gospel narrative of the life and ministry of Jesus, “The Chosen” has become an international phenomenon and is currently in its fourth season.

The director highlighted instances where the show was misinterpreted, citing examples of how certain scenes were taken out of context.

“It’s frustrating when people think that they can solve the issue of the hypostatic union in a YouTube comment,” Jenkins expressed, stressing the importance of nuanced understanding over superficial judgments.

Jenkins clarified the times he’s said “The Chosen” is “not a ministry,” stating that while he and his wife have a personal ministry focused on bringing people closer to Jesus, conversion is the work of God and the Holy Spirit, not theirs. He stated that his cast and crew, many of whom are not “traditional believers,” are not required to subscribe to his personal ministry or religious beliefs.

“We are a for-profit company,” he said, adding: “We don’t have a litmus test for who is going to work on our show outside of, ‘You’re going to work hard, you’re going to do a great job, and we’re going to do this work together. And whether whatever your motive is, whatever your background is, is not my concern.”

Last year, Jenkins and “The Chosen” faced criticism after a video clip showing a small rainbow flag on the show’s set circulated on social media.

“We have people on our cast and crew who come from multiple backgrounds, and our camera operator is gay and has a three-inch pride flag on his own personal equipment,” Jenkins said. “He is allowed to have his own equipment; he is allowed to express himself within the context of his equipment. And we have a guy in the catering team who wears a MAGA hat, you know. I don’t police any of those things. And our cast and crew know that when they come on, if they have personal issues with someone else’s personal issues, they’re going to have to put those at the door because we’re here to work together, regardless of our politics, regardless of our backgrounds. We’re going to work together on this.”

Jenkins stressed that he doesn’t personally “support pride,” adding: “Everyone knows where I stand.”

“I’m an Evangelical Christian, and I believe in a biblical viewpoint of sexuality,” Jenkins said. “But I also don’t require that the cast and crew sign on to my own personal beliefs. We have a great relationship, and the camera operator who was called for to be fired by several people and criticized is probably one of my top two or three favorite crew members on our show. He works so hard for the show. He is some of the great work that people talk about on the show comes from him.”

One of the more sensitive topics discussed in the interview was Jenkins’ relationship with the Mormon community and his affiliation with Angel Studios, owned by the Harmon brothers, who are adherents to the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints.

Jenkins clarified the nature of this partnership and its impact on “The Chosen,” explaining that while Angel Studios played a significant role in launching the show, they had no influence on its content and that he continues to uphold Evangelical Christian beliefs.

Angel Studios and “The Chosen” have since parted ways for reasons Jenkins said had “nothing to do with the LDS thing.” The show is now distributed by Lionsgate.

“I have no problem working with anyone who is going to work hard to get the show out to the world. They have zero input or influence on the content of the show,” he said.

Jenkins acknowledged he previously came under fire after stating that he has Mormon friends who believe in “Jesus of Nazareth, the Jesus of the Gospels, the Jesus that I’m portraying in the show.”

“I was referring to a few of my LDS friends, and I said, ‘I’m not speaking for the LDS church, I’m not talking about their a formal doctrine or anything like that,'” he clarified. “I’m talking about some of these LDS friends that I have do love the same Jesus that I do. We may have some disagreements about some aspects of it, but some of these brothers that I know that I have had deep, intense, dozens of hours of conversations with might not actually sign on to or might have a different viewpoint than what the official church doctrine is, much like Evangelical world has different sects and different denominations within it.”

Jenkins, the son of Left Behind author Jerry Jenkins, also mentioned accusations of him quoting the Book of Mormon, which he denied, saying he hadn’t read it. He urged people to let “The Chosen” speak for itself and to focus on what is truly relevant, rather than getting caught up in misinterpretations or assumptions based on limited information or past comments.

And while he’s open to constructive criticism and discussions, Jenkins said, “Let’s not try to relegate these very important, important and nuanced issues to YouTube headlines.”