Joseph of Egypt – the "Chosen Universe" spin-off announces its cast
The Prime Video miniseries is now being filmed in New Mexico.
Cameras have started rolling on the extended Chosen universe.
Prime Video and 5&2 Studios announced today that they have started shooting Joseph of Egypt in New Mexico. They also revealed the names of fourteen of the miniseries’ cast members—two of whom have prior Bible-movie experience.
The title character:
Adam Hashmi (Bridgerton, Criminal Record) as Joseph
Joseph’s parents (including all of his father’s wives and concubines):
Alexander Siddig (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) as Joseph’s father Jacob
Siddig previously played the angel Gabriel in The Nativity Story (2006).
Jacob was played by Amato D’Apolito in The Chosen S1E8 (2019).
Shani Atias (The Pitt) as Joseph’s mother Rachel
Iris Bahr (Svetlana) as Jacob’s first wife (and Rachel’s sister) Leah
Moran Atias (Tyrant) as Jacob’s concubine Bilhah
Atias previously played Rahab in Rahab and the Ribbon of Redemption (2019).
Interestingly, Bilhah was Rachel’s servant before she became Jacob’s concubine and bore him children in Rachel’s name… and the actress playing Bilhah is the sister of the actress playing Rachel.1
Necar Zadegan (Mayor of Kingstown) as Jacob’s concubine Zilapah
Joseph’s brothers (and Jacob’s other sons, identified here by their mothers):
Daniel Peera (The Cleaning Lady) as Leah’s son Reuben
Babak Tafti (Succession) as Leah’s son Simeon
Siya Maleki (The Bones Exist) as Leah’s son Levi
Amir Malaklou (The Old Man) as Leah’s son Judah
Matisse Ratron-Neal (The Night Agent) as Leah’s son Issachar
Ruben Vernier (Monsters) as Zilapah’s son Gad
Dakota Shapiro (Valley of the Boom) as Zilapah’s son Ashur2
Note: we still don’t know who is playing Leah’s son Zebulun, Bilhah’s sons Dan and Naphtali, or Rachel’s son Benjamin.
We also don’t know if the miniseries will depict Jacob and Leah’s daughter Dinah at all. (While Dinah is one of the central characters in Genesis 34, she doesn’t play any role in the biblical version of Joseph’s story, which begins in Genesis 37—but films like 1995’s The Bible Collection: Joseph and 2014’s The Red Tent have found ways to connect their stories.)3
A possible member of Joseph’s extended family:
Tannaz Shastiri (Hacks) as Eliuram
This name does not appear in the Bible, but Eliuram is the name of Reuben’s Canaanite wife in midrashic texts like the Book of Jasher.
Incidentally, while we’re talking about Reuben’s choice of mates, the biblical Reuben slept with one of his father’s concubines (Genesis 35:22) and ultimately lost his rights as firstborn because of this (Genesis 49:2-3, I Chronicles 5:1-2). Will the miniseries get into that at all?
There have been no announcements yet regarding who might play Egyptian characters like the Pharaoh, Potiphar, or Potiphar’s wife (who is anonymous in the Judeo-Christian scriptures but is known in the Muslim tradition as Zuleikah).
As was revealed last June, the series is being written and executive-produced by Craig Wright, the creator of TV shows like Greenleaf and Dirty Sexy Money. Executive producer Dallas Jenkins said at the time that the series would be filmed “this fall and into the winter”, so the cameras will be rolling for quite a while yet.
The miniseries will have eight episodes. No release date has been announced, but Jenkins has said it will come out sometime before Season 7 of The Chosen, which isn’t due until 2028. So… there’s a lot of time to figure that out.
In addition to Joseph of Egypt, Prime Video has an exclusive streaming deal with The Chosen and is also producing the biblical series House of David, which is not part of the Chosen universe. The second season of that series comes out later this year.
Some of my past writing about Joseph movies and TV shows:
Reviews:
The Bible Collection: Joseph (an Emmy winner for outstanding miniseries; 1995)
Joseph, King of Dreams (a sort of prequel to The Prince of Egypt; 2000)
God’s Stories: Joseph (an Arabic movie; 2004)
Prophet Joseph (a 45-episode Iranian TV series; 2008-2009)
The Covenant (an edited word-for-word adaptation of Genesis, etc.; 2023)
Interviews:
Roger Young, director of The Bible Collection: Joseph and The Red Tent (2014)
Essays:
‘It’s All in the Family: The Patriarchs of Genesis in Film’, in The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (2016).
Upcoming Bible movies and TV shows:
September 4-14, 2025 — You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution... (theatrical: Toronto International Film Festival)
September 5, 2025 — Light of the World (theatrical: Salvation Poem Project)
September 26, 2025 — Ruth & Boaz (streaming: Netflix)
Fall 2025 — House of David: Season 2 (streaming: Prime Video - Wonder Project)
November 2025 — Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints: Season 2 part 1 (streaming: Fox Nation)
December 19, 2025 — Zero A.D. (theatrical: Angel Studios)
2025 (no month specified) — The Carpenter’s Son (theatrical: Magnolia)
2025 (no month specified) — The Chosen Adventures (streaming)
2025 (no month specified) — The Promised Land: Season 1 (streaming)
March 22-April 5, 2026 — The Faithful (television: Fox)
April-May 2026 — Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints: Season 2 part 2 (streaming: Fox Nation)
second half of 2026 — The Chosen: Season 6: Episodes 1-6 (streaming: Prime Video)
March 12, 2027 — The Chosen: Season 6: Finale (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
March 26, 2027 — The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One (theatrical: Lionsgate)
May 6, 2027 — The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two (theatrical: Lionsgate)
March 31, 2028 — The Chosen: Season 7: Premiere (theatrical: Amazon MGM)
no release date specified — David (theatrical)
no release date specified — Jacob (theatrical: Angel Studios)
no release date specified — Joseph of Egypt (streaming: Prime Video)
who knows when Malick will finish it — The Way of the Wind (theatrical)
Also: because Jacob’s wives Leah and Rachel were sisters, the fact that his wife Rachel and his concubine Bilhah are being played by sisters means the Rachel character and the Rachel actress are both sharing Jacob with their sisters, in a manner of speaking.
I’m assuming this character is the one whose name is spelled “Asher” in most Bibles, just as I assume “Zilapah” is the character whose name is normally spelled “Zilpah”.
As it happens, The Bible Collection: Joseph and The Red Tent were directed by the same person, i.e. Roger Young. I interviewed him when the latter miniseries came out.