How THE CHOSEN Character’s Faith Inspires This Actress
By Movieguide® Contributor
THE CHOSEN actress Amber Shana Williams discussed how the faith of her character, Tamar, has impacted her as THE CHOSEN gets ready to launch into Season 5.
“Tamar has gone through so much. She suffered a tremendous loss. Her entire family was massacred at once, she lost them [all],” Williams said. “As a woman, once you are without a family, without a man leading some household, in the first century, you’re basically worthless. So I think about all of these things, and I admire her so much because despite all of that, she’s still found a way to start over again.”
Tamar becomes a businesswoman and works hard to keep herself out of absolute poverty by picking and selling flowers. It is while she is working that she encounters Jesus for the first time, and her life is transformed once again as she decides to become His follower.
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“I can imagine [the heat] in Capernaum back in those days, and she’s out there picking flowers, and that’s where she makes her first encounter with Jesus was on that road. And not only did she start over at [the point her family died] to get to that place, but she started over again when she left all of that behind to follow Jesus,” Williams said.
Even after joining the group of the disciples, however, Tamar faced difficulties as she clashed with others in the group and felt like she had to prove herself to Jesus rather than fully trust Him and surrender.
This comes to a head when she and Mary Magdalene hash things out and share how the other has gotten on their nerves. In doing so, both women realize they have been comparing their weaknesses to the other’s strengths, and this vastly transforms their relationship.
“Mary has struggled so much in her pain that she’s almost been unable to recognize pain in Tamar,” Elizabeth Tabish, who plays Mary Magdalene, explained. “These tensions just build and build until, like, they almost can’t even talk. Once Mary shares that vulnerability, it allows Tamar to share her own and this is when Mary does say to her, ‘I’m sorry. Forgive me. I judged your strengths against my weaknesses.’ Tamar even says… ‘Jesus forgave you. You need to forgive yourself.’”
Now that these life-changing conversations and realizations have occurred, Williams believes that Tamar has come to see just what a life with Jesus looks like and finds her peace and security through Him, rather than in her own work.
“We see in Season 5 that she’s no longer struggling to be purposeful. I feel like this is the final reinvention for her because she’s like, ‘Oh, I have found great purpose and there’s no more guessing about it,’” Williams said. “And there’s security in that, that she’s found in this family.”
Season 5 will begin releasing in theaters later this month in three parts, but a special binge theatrical release of the entire season was just announced. The entirety of THE CHOSEN Season 5 will release in theaters on Palm Sunday (April 13) and Easter weekend (April 19-20), The Direct reported.
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