Yasmine Al-Bustami and Brandon Potter reveal what they are excited for in The Chosen season 4 and portraying original characters in the series.
The Chosen season 4 is going to get intense. Clashing kingdoms. Rival rulers. The enemies of Jesus close in while His followers struggle to keep up, leaving him to carry the burden alone. Threatened by the reality of Jesus’ growing influence, religious leaders do the unthinkable—ally with their Roman oppressors. As the seeds of betrayal are planted and opposition to Jesus’ message turns violent, he’s left with no alternative but demand his followers RISE UP.
Related: Jonathan Roumie Teases A Darker The Chosen Season 4
We caught up with Yasmine Al-Bustami (Ramah) and Brandon Potter (Quintus) to talk all things The Chosen season 4. In this interview they reveal how they feel about the entire season releasing in theaters, what it is like playing characters that are not in the Bible, and what they are most looking forward to fans seeing this season.
Yasmine Al-Bustami and Brandon Potter Talk The Chosen Season 4
Tessa Smith: How does it feel that this season is coming to theaters?
Yasmine Al-Bustami: I feel like even if I see it in theaters, I still would be like, really? Slap me. Don’t pinch me, slap me. Knock me down.
Brandon Potter: It’s bonkers for the show to have gone on this journey. And for it to go to theaters, that’s already unprecedent. It’s unprecedented. It kind of makes sense. You know, people want to share this with each other. And the images I think are beautiful. They demand a big screen and a big sound system. So it makes sense. But still slap me.
Tessa Smith: Did you guys ever expect this kind of following?
Brandon Potter: Did I expect a historical drama to be one of the most watched television shows in the planet? No. Yeah, that is not what I expected.
Yasmine Al-Bustami: No. Same. No.
Tessa Smith: Both of your characters are not based off of people from the Bible. Do you feel that gives you more room to explore them?
Brandon Potter: Yeah, I think so. We were talking about it and I think a lot of the other folks in the show, they get to work from the inside out, right? There’s personality stuff that they can glean from scripture or any of the literature, right? But I’ve had to work from the outside in like, here’s what I know about military life. Here’s what I know about civic life, here’s what I know about, like, Quintus is my character’s name, that means that he’s probably a fifth child so maybe he didn’t get to inherit his position or goods, he had to work for it. So it’s little things like that. I had to go from the outside, instead of the inside out, and I think that gives a little bit of freedom.
Yasmine Al-Bustami: Right, yeah. It’s so fun being able to play a woman who, traditionally, during that time period, which I just absolutely love doing a historical piece, it’s just so fun. I love it. I didn’t realize I would love it this much. I think that’s due to the writing and how they’ve made it. Dallas and Ryan and Tyler, our writers, how they’ve made it so relatable, and they’ve injected the humanity into all the characters. They made it so easy. They made it real. Everything is there, in the script, in their words, and you see it in the interactions with the other characters. You see it with the things that the characters are going through personally, and then just them being them. They’re amazing collaborators, and we get to talk to them if we ever have questions or have ideas, or are just trying to understand. It brings up amazing conversations of again, the humanity of the person and the relatability of the person.
Tessa Smith: You mentioned the writers, when you got the scripts for season four, was there anything you guys were super excited to film for the season? Something that you can’t talk about clearly judging from your face.
Brandon Potter: Yes, Season Four has some pretty shocking and big moments. We have a scene together… A lot of times if you’ve read a script, you’re like, Okay, right, you sort of start going into homework mode right away. When I was reading the scripts for season four I did not go into homework mode, I went to like pacing around my apartment mode.
Tessa Smith: What are you most excited for fans to see, that you can say?
Brandon Potter: Ready to see Quintus break. Ready to see Quintus make good on a threat.
Yasmine Al-Bustami: And I’m ready for people to see, in a very morbid way, the darkness. Because that’s life. Everything’s been so, not hunky dory, but things have been going pretty smooth. And this is the first time where this is just the impacts of life hit him in a real difficult way.
The Chosen season 4 is releasing theatrically throughout February.
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About The Chosen Season 4
“Come to me, you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” That was the theme of Season 3. Jesus said this to a crowd of thousands before also saying it to Simon while they stood on water. Season 4? Jesus is weary and heavy-laden, and He needs rest.
We’re getting closer and closer to Jerusalem, to what we know is coming. Jesus is getting increasingly frustrated, and yes, sad. Not because he’s getting closer to death, but because of the reasons He must die. From his faith’s religious leaders, to the holy city of Jerusalem, to his own friends and followers, people are not understanding his mission. To that end, He must allow painful things, and even set in motion certain confusing or bittersweet events, to accelerate the outcomes that will lead to Holy Week.
Season 4 marks the midpoint of the most famous and influential story in human history. It will be painful, and it will be joyous. It will be bittersweet. But by all measures, Season 4 will also be our best.
– Dallas Jenkins, Creator of The Chosen