Noah James of ‘The Chosen’ Discusses His Character’s Growth And Journey in Season Three

*Through the eyes of the other disciples of Jesus Christ, apostle Andrew was not the most popular or, by their standards, not as significant as his brother Peter. Andrew is not mentioned often in the gospels, but his contributions to the Kingdom of God did not go unnoticed by his creator.

While human nature glorifies fame, wealth, significant accomplishments, and adulation from others, God sees a person who serves others before themselves as a beacon of greatness (Mark 10:42-45). Those that follow the will of God, even though the world may consider them the least, Jesus Christ will consider them the greatest in heaven, which is indicative of His disciple Andrew.

Andrew is a Greek name that translates to “manly,” “courageous,” and “brave.” His birthplace is a town called Bethsaida (John 1:44), and he grew up in Capernaum (Mark 1:29) with his brother Peter and worked as a fisherman along with Peter. 

Andrew is acknowledged as a leader in the early church and taught the gospel in Greece, Asia Minor, and parts north of the Black Sea. Later, he would die in Achaia on an X-formed cross because he did not feel worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus Christ. 

EURweb caught up with actor Noah James of “The Chosen” to discuss Andrew’s impact and journey in season three. 

MORE NEWS ON EURWEB: ‘Buying Beverly Hills’ Star Brandon Graves on Making His Reality TV Debut | EUR Exclusive

EURweb: In your own words, tell me what “The Chosen” is about for those who may be new to the series and are just going to start discovering it.

Noah James: I think “The Chosen” is a super authentic look into the life and ministry of Jesus, those surrounding him, and what being a disciple of Jesus means.

EURweb: The series takes people who may have mocked Christian content and turns them into engrossed viewers. Researching Andrew he is the first apostle that Jesus called and the first apostle to claim Jesus was the Messiah. What about Andrew’s character do you think compelled Jesus to instruct Andrew to follow him?

James: It’s a great question; it’s interesting. The disciples were not, as we discuss here, and, in these first two episodes that are in theaters, these are not religious leaders. These were not prominent members of society that were brought in to be the disciples, and Andrew, in a lot of ways, is representative of that. In the second season, in episode three, I have this little speech where I talk about sometimes I feel like I’m living someone else’s life, I feel like I’m trying to live up to the heroes of our history and be great, but I don’t know if I’m great. But Andrew does it no matter what; Andrew gives all of himself. That’s something that I tried to bring to life with the character. That’s something that I tried to live my life by, and I tried to even if there’s anxiety or insecurity, it’s like, I’m going to give all of myself to this. That’s something that Jesus wanted as part of the team, and we see that out in the first season. Then there’s a huge journey from there of just Andrew bringing the news of the Messiah to Simon and staying with him even when he doesn’t believe it’s something special. Fans have responded to that, and I’ve also liked that about Andrew.

EURweb: Another fun fact about Andrew is that his name was Greek, even though he was Jewish. Do you think having a Greek name gave him a liberal identity that helped him open up to other cultures to share the gospel? 

James: That’s such an interesting question. The idea of living in Capernaum, which had all these people from all around, I think we have a skewed vision of what living 2000 years would have been like; we think it’s very secluded, they didn’t have much, but that’s not true at all. I mean, you have all walks of life and cultures living in small communities together, certainly in Capernaum. As Noah, traveling the world has been some of the most eye-opening experiences I’ve ever had; it’s made me a better human being, and it’s made me empathize with people better. I’m sure that was the case; living in Capernaum, living with many people who probably disagreed with them or some that agreed. People that live differently and certainly even just living under Roman oppression and knowing what that felt like and trying to overcome that. I’m sure that would have helped in spreading the message to people from all over the world.

EURweb: Andrew is mentioned a couple of times throughout the gospels. Bible scholars have remarked that the gospel writers mentioned Andrew after Simon Peter to show his level of importance. In other articles, Andrew is characterized as being humble and maybe not much of a talker. How do you think God used those characteristics in him to serve His purpose?

James: You know, that’s interesting that you say that; it’s funny in the whole journey of the show so far, and what people will see [like] in season one, I say to Simon, ‘if the Messiah is here, anything is possible, right? Nothing else matters. The Romans don’t matter what we’re going through with the taxes; it doesn’t matter if the Messiah is here.’ There was this kind of release of a burden once Jesus arrived. But what Andrew realized over the course of the next season, and then into the third, is that it’s not all fun and games just because Jesus has arrived; it’s not easy, and it could be more challenging to follow the way of Jesus and to spread out into the community surrounding Capernaum. For instance, [when] John the Baptist is arrested and thrown into the dungeon, it’s like, how can that be if Jesus has arrived? There’s this reckoning of ‘oh, it’s hard,’ and it could be getting harder and harder and harder and knowing that ultimately could lead to a very, very dark place. That realization is something that a lot of the disciples struggle with, certainly, in our show. We portray that humility comes from understanding that just by trying to live Jesus’s teachings doesn’t mean that suffering here on Earth goes away, and that’s a hard lesson to learn. We are watching Andrew, learning it in real-time.

EURweb: In addition to what can people expect from season three of “The Chosen,” what can viewers expect with Andrew’s journey?

James: In season three, the disciples become the Apostles. You see, for the first time, we’re sent out, two by two, into the surrounding areas to teach Jesus’s words. Many disciples don’t feel worthy or are anxious. He sends us out without an extra tunic, without food in our bags, to rely on those we minister to, and there’s a lot of insecurity.

People take for granted what that would have been like from the outside, thinking, ‘oh, well, they were okay’ when they went off into that mission. They came home fine, but what would it have been like to tell your wife as Simon has to, I’m going out, and I’m going to do the things that the Romans have been mad at Jesus for doing now, but now it’s going to be me doing a lot. So, put yourself in those shoes, and that’s what season three brings to the table. You see some of the disciples; their worries increase, the fear increases, the hardship gets very hard this season, and it culminates. It’s no spoiler to say that we focused a lot on feeding the 5000 and on the journey that takes us there with our 5000 people, hungry, with no food out in the field, listening to Jesus. What led to that moment was a humanitarian crisis. So we don’t take it flippantly. We tried to explore the rising tensions that could lead to something like that, and I’ll say for Andrew, at the end of season two, we saw a lot of anxiety coming out and some freakout moments. We see the reckoning of that and how that plays out. Even in these first few episodes that you’ll be able to see in theaters, we see a meeting with John the Baptist Um, and that was an incredibly special scene to shoot. You’ll see a huge journey with Andrew, from the sermon on the mount to the feeding of the 5000 at the end.

For a complete list of theaters, visit here. 

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!