The Chosen’s “Peter” Discusses New Season

by Gunther Simmermacher · Published April 3, 2025 · Updated April 3, 2025

Isaac Shahar, who portrays Simon Peter in the popular series The Chosen, in conversation with Southern Cross editor Günther Simmermacher during a Zoom interview.

By Günther Simmermacher – Since the phenomenal success of the series The Chosen, about Jesus and his followers, St Peter has been given a new face, that of the Israeli-born actor Shahar Isaac. The 32-year-old’s depiction of Simon Peter is one of the stand-out performances in the series, which is now releasing the fifth of seven planned seasons with a global cinema run.

In South Africa, The Chosen Season 5: The Last Supper will open with a double-bill of Episodes 1 & 2 in cinemas nationwide on Thursday, April 10. Further double-bill episodes are planned for subsequent cinematic release. See for details.

Asked about the standout moments in the new season, Isaac picked two, one involving himself, and the other giving credit to colleagues.

“The first is our arrival in the city of Jerusalem at the beginning of the first episode,” he told The Southern Cross in a Zoom interview. “We were greeted by a crowd of 600 chanting people — actual fans of the show performing as background actors, giving the best performance you could hope from extras. Their energy was overwhelming, so real and passionate that it completely took us by surprise. It was a truly emotional moment, walking into the city with people laying cloth under our feet. We couldn’t stop smiling.”

Isaac Shahar as St Peter in Season 5 of The Chosen, which is being released in South African cinemas on April 10.

The second scene that Isaac highly anticipates doesn’t even involve Peter. “Paul Ben-Victor and Richard Fancy, who play Herod Antipas and Caiaphas, have this extraordinary scene together. They have such an extraordinary scene, so well written and acted — phenomenal acting! I think people will really enjoy watching that. I enjoyed it very much as a viewer,” he said.

Isaac’s portrayal of Peter is rooted in The Chosen’s script, but he also brings his own interpretation to the role. “If you’re playing a historical character of whom you may have footage, which you can actually imitate, I think that’s very useful. But in this situation, there is a 2,000-year gap between Peter’s time and today. And if you ask ten people who Peter was, you will probably get ten different answers,” he explained.

So the actor worked hard to disconnect from preconceived ideas and instead trust the script, the creator’s vision, “and just follow the map of the script and let it happen to me”, he said.

The trailer for Season 5 of The Chosen can be viewed at https://intl.thechosenlastsupper.com. Tickets can be booked on the same site. Season 5 is expected to be released for free streaming no earlier than September on The Chosen’s app or website (https://watch.thechosen.tv/), where the previous four seasons are freely available for streaming.