The overwhelming success of “The Chosen” television series has come at a price. Producer Dallas Jenkins and his wife, Amanda, are opening up about the pressures their busy lives have placed on their marriage.
“I can honestly say, and I hope this doesn’t come across at all as ungrateful — because this has been an extraordinary journey — but it’s been, without a close second, the hardest five years of our lives,” Dallas Jenkins told host Chynna Phillips Baldwin for her podcast, “California Preachin’, Honestly Speakin’.” “And the last year has been the hardest and most painful of our lives — most challenging for our marriage and most challenging with our kids.”
“The Chosen” launched before the pandemic with little fanfare but has grown into the most successful faith-based entertainment project in recent decades, with more than 200 million viewers worldwide.
READ: The Chosen draws huge numbers of non-Christian viewers
“It feels like the more growth that you have in something like this, the more ‘the enemy’ — Satan — attacks,” he said. “There are forces of this world that oftentimes want to get in the way of spiritual growth and the expansion of the name of Jesus, and they come after our kids and our family. We haven’t shied away from the fact that we have our counselor, our marriage counselor, on speed dial.”
Jenkins said the long hours and travel involved in filmmaking make it challenging for families. “I try really hard to carve out time and prioritize family, and I think I do more than the average showrunner,” he said. “But you’re operating from a deficit.”
There are expectations on both sides, and they get unmet
He said that when he comes home after a long stint away from the house, he and his wife often struggle to communicate. “There are expectations on both sides, and they get unmet,” Jenkins said. “Things start to fly, and suddenly, you’re feeling like the one person that you’re supposed to be closest to in this process, you’re disappointing, or they’re disappointing you.”
It has helped, Dallas said, to treat family time like a doctor’s appointment, where hours are scheduled for uninterrupted togetherness. He said he tells people, “`I’m sorry, I’m not available at that time. What other times are there?’ If you wake up one morning and your kids are]20 years old, and they’re now bitter or resentful because of those little choices you didn’t make — you end up getting a `Cat’s in the Cradle’ situation, and it’s not great.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice