'The Chosen': Jonathan Roumie, Luke Dimyan on Judas' betrayal, recreating infamous kiss

USA Today

20 hours ago

'The Chosen: Last Supper,' the fifth installment of the series about Jesus, includes many of the significant moments for Christians at Jesus' final meal with the apostles, such as the washing of their feet and introduction of the Eucharist. But arguably the most gripping scene of the eight-episode season depicting Holy Week (now streaming on Amazon Prime Video) is the last, when Judas plants a kiss on Jesus' cheek in the Garden of Gethsemane, identifying him to the authorities and putting the Crucifixion in motion. Season 6, expected to premiere in the second half of of 2026, according to series creator Dallas Jenkins, will focus on Jesus' death, and the seventh and final season will depict the Resurrection.
Earlier in the finale, Jesus (Jonathan Roumie) prays in the garden, telling God of his affliction over what's to come. 'The sorrow,' Jesus says, weeping. 'Make me stronger than I am, Father.'
'It's a moment of desperation in this story,' Roumie tells USA TODAY. 'And there are some of the most human feelings that he could have experienced in terms of doubt and fear and sorrow and pain and sadness and anguish, ultimately followed by trust and faith and hope and courage and strength.'
In the episode's final moments, Jesus sees an army marching toward him with torches. The apostles are alarmed, but Jesus understands his destiny is coming. When Judas (Luke Dimyan) emerges from the group and begins walking toward Jesus, his followers – understanding that Judas is the betrayer among them – are stunned.
With tears welling in his eyes, Judas greets Jesus with a simple, 'Rabbi.'
'My friend,' Jesus says. 'Do what you came to do.'
Judas kisses Jesus, and the screen fades to black.
'It's a pretty devastating moment in the friendship of all of these men, to see Judas round the corner from behind these Pharisees and temple guards and realize that he's the one who kind of sealed Jesus' fate in that moment," Roumie says. "But it had to be done."
Roumie understood Jesus knew what was coming, "but I don't think it wounds him any less,' the actor says. In his portrayal, "there was just deep, deep sadness for Judas and for his ignorance and for his lack of judgment but also for the necessity of Judas to play that part.'
Judas, depicted in 'The Chosen' as an orphan, 'goes into a panic, survival mode,' Dimyan believes. It's 'a survival instinct to do whatever it takes to just make it out of this."
'I know a lot of people associate him with the betrayal, but to me, I think the core of the character is inevitable suicide. That's the moment I'm leading to. That's what I want to make sense of. There is an internal depression and a self-hatred that I don't think anyone notices but I think that he tries to overcompensate for. He tries to be helpful. He tries to have a purpose, not only just within the group, but within his life.'
With Jesus, Dimyan says, his character feels 'that safety and that reason, (and) I think he finds the chance to have a purpose, worth, meaning. … He's so scared that he'll do whatever it takes to make Jesus save him, even if it means forcing his hand in a situation. And if he doesn't save him, then he was never the Messiah.'
For the infamous kiss, Dimyan says, he received very specific and detailed instructions from the crew about where to place his mouth.
'So I just have my lips planted at Jonathan's cheek for a solid five minutes, just there on my tippy toes,' Dimyan says. 'And I'm just next to his face, trying not to breathe too hard.
'It was such a dramatic scene, and as you see in the final take of it, it's very serious. But behind the scenes, I couldn't help but crack up at the awkward setup, because sadly I'm a bit of a shorty (at 5-foot-7) and Jonathan is quite tall (6 feet). I was able to kiss him pretty normally, but they were like: 'Nope. We want it higher on the cheek.' And I'm like: 'Why do we want it higher on the cheek? Is that just to make me feel bad?' But they got me boxes, and that still wasn't enough, and I just had to shift and move like an Etch A Sketch with my lips all over his cheek.'