Vanessa Benavente on playing the mother of Jesus in ‘The Chosen’

“The Chosen,” a drama series based on the life of Jesus seen through the eyes of his disciples and others who knew him, is now on its fourth season.

CALÓ News spoke with Vanessa Benavente, who plays Mother Mary on the show, about her role and what it means to play the mother of Jesus. 

Benavente, who started acting at a young age in Lima, Peru, and has worked in both Spanish and English projects throughout her career, said it was clear from the moment she read the scripts that it was a different take on Mary. “When I read it, she even had a sense of humor,” Benavente said. “It was so refreshing to see, and to hear her speak in those words.”

The most challenging part of playing Mother Mary was trying to understand what it was like living in those times, Benavente said. “Back then a woman and a man couldn't touch each other. … You couldn't even walk with them.” 

Mother Mary plays a bigger role in season four of “The Chosen,” and the actress feels that she plays the role of being there for Jesus, knowing that He can always come to her and she will listen. 

When asked if she is a believer herself and how the show has influenced her beliefs, Benavente said it has expanded her views on spirituality and how people need to remember to listen to different points of view. 

“This show has been a real eye opener to how I carry my spirituality,” says Benavente. “I feel it hasn't only just gotten me a little bit more in touch with the message of Jesus. And I love that this show really focuses on the part of the message that includes everyone. He called everyone from all walks of life and tried to have them work together. And I feel that's such an important message nowadays, where people just want to hear what they believe and what they want to hear. And they stop seeing the other person as an equal as another human being. I feel like that's such an important message that resonates with a lot of people.”

Season four of the series, written, directed, and produced by Dallas Jenkins and distributed globally by Lionsgate, premiered globally across all platforms on June 2. It is available on Amazon Prime, Peacock and Netflix. The full season was also released in theaters, distributed by Fathom Events. Viewers can also watch the series for free in “The Chosen” app, available for download on streaming players or devices including Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, iOS, and Android.