Interview: Jordan Walker Ross on playing Little James in The Chosen

Jordan Walker Ross as Little James. Photo courtesy of The Chosen.

This is the first of three interviews that I have done with actors from The Chosen, the life-of-Jesus series that is about to launch its third season in theatres next week.

The Chosen has been around long enough now that some of the newer members of the cast were fans of the show before they got their parts. But Jordan Walker Ross has been there right from the beginning. Not only does Ross appear in the second episode, which premiered almost four years ago circa Easter 2019, but his character—Little James, a nickname that Jesus creates to distinguish the character from James the son of Zebedee, aka Big James—is one of the first two disciples who follow Jesus.

Notably, Ross has scoliosis and cerebral palsy, which affects his walk, and The Chosen has incorporated this into the character and used it to explore questions like why Jesus heals some people and not others. Those themes will take on new urgency in Season 3—the first two episodes of which are coming to theatres next week—when Jesus sends the apostles out, two by two, to heal people in his name. And yes, Little James is one of the men who will be asked to perform those healings, too.

I had a chance to talk to Ross about the upcoming season and how it touches on these themes. If we’d had more time, I might have also asked about the other actors in his family (his grandfather Barry Corbin has been on screens big and small since the late 1970s), how The Chosen has affected his career (his recent roles include a recurring part on the Yellowstone prequel 1883 and a “Computer Tech” in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), his upcoming role in The Shift (a sci-fi movie inspired by the book of Job, from the studio behind The Chosen), or his podcast ‘What’s Your Limp?’, in which he and his guests talk about their physical and psychological challenges.

You can listen to the interview above; paid subscribers can also see a transcript of the interview below. And click on the links below to see some of my earlier interviews with the makers of The Chosen, as well as detailed analyses of each episode.

The Chosen interviews:

Dallas Jenkins on Season 1 (December 2019) | Dallas Jenkins on Season 2 (May 2021) | Derral Eves on Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers (November 2021) | Dallas Jenkins on the ‘The Chosen Is Not Good’ marketing campaign (April 2022)

The Chosen recaps:

Season 1: review | scripture index
Episode recaps: The Shepherd | one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight

Season 2: The Messengers review | scripture index
Episode recaps: one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | The Messengers