British-born adventurer Bear Grylls is known for toughing it out in the wildest of landscapes, and now he’s bringing his survival expertise to the cast of “The Chosen.”
Grylls, 50, spoke with CBN News at ChosenCon in Orlando, where he announced his upcoming series, “The Chosen in the Wild,” a partnership with Dallas Jenkins, the creator of “The Chosen,” which is entering its fifth season.
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In the upcoming survival show, Grylls, who compared the series to his popular reality TV show, “Running Wild,” will journey out into the wilderness with various members of the Bible-based series’ cast. Four episodes of the show have already been filmed, with two remaining. The outstanding episodes, the survivalist said, will feature Jenkins and Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in “The Chosen.”
“I’m really proud to announce a partnership with ‘The Chosen,'” Grylls said. “We’re doing a show called ‘The Chosen in the Wild,’ where I get to take cast members away on many ‘Running Wild’-type adventures, get to know their stories, see the real people, what they’re like, their background[s], and their journey through ‘The Chosen,’ their faith, and kind of how it’s changed them.”
Filming episodes with Jenkins and Roumie, he added, should be “good fun,” calling the episodes completed so far “amazing.”
“It’s a different dynamic,” the celebrity said of the episodes. “They’re really powerful, and [there’s] a lot of emotion, and each of their stories has been really inspiring.”
As for “The Chosen” itself, Grylls said the “power” of Jenkins’ series is “it shows the real Jesus” and addresses the “struggles,” “doubts,” “frustrations,” and “arguments” that were likely present among the early followers of Jesus.
“And yet, Christ was this beautiful, powerful, strong, impassioned — at times, angry — loving figure,” he continued. “I always looked at Jesus, like, if God exists, this is how I hope He’d be. So seeing Him portrayed in a way that feels real is always powerful.”
The former British Army trooper admitted to CBN News he “always struggled with church” growing up and that he has spent years “unlearning” some of the legalism that defined his early experiences with faith.
“Actually, faith is the most freeing and empowering, raw, wild thing you’ll ever — adventure you’ll ever go on,” he said.
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