Newsbites: Joseph of Egypt! The Faithful!
New actors have joined two shows based on the book of Genesis.
American Gods veteran joins Joseph of Egypt
Deadline reports that Omid Abtahi (American Gods, The Mandalorian) has joined the cast of Joseph of Egypt as a character named Ankuh.
I’m not familiar with anyone in biblical or secular history named “Ankuh”, and a quick Google doesn’t turn up anything relevant, but I’m guessing he’s one of the show’s Egyptian characters.1 This is the first bit of casting news we’ve heard about a character who isn’t part of Joseph’s family, in any case.
Abtahi might be best known for playing Salim in American Gods, a show that is set in the present day but is sort of Bible-adjacent insofar as multiple versions of Jesus appear in a few episodes.
Abtahi’s IMDB page says he is also voicing a “Roman Auger” in The Chosen Adventures, an upcoming animated spin-off of The Chosen—so Joseph of Egypt would be the second “Chosen universe” show that he has been involved with.
Abtahi also had major roles in The Mandalorian (as Dr Penn Pershing) and Damien (as a photographer named Amani Golkar), so it looks like I’ll have to update my posts on Star Wars and The Omen actors who have also been in Bible movies!
Joseph of Egypt is currently being filmed in New Mexico. It will premiere on Prime Video at some point in the future; no release date has been announced yet.
Actors announced for Rebekah, Isaac, Jacob, and Esau in The Faithful
Deadline reports that actors have been cast as Rebekah, her husband Isaac, and their sons Jacob and Esau in the second episode of The Faithful, a three-part series about the women of Genesis coming to Fox next spring.
The actors are:
Alexa Davalos (FBI: Most Wanted, The Man in the High Castle) as Rebekah
Tom Mison (Sleepy Hollow, Watchmen) as Isaac
Tom Payne (The Walking Dead, The Prodigal Son) as Jacob
Ben Robson (Animal Kingdom, Vikings) as Esau
To my knowledge, none of them have been in Bible movies before.
This is how Deadline describes the characters:
Rebekah is the woman who risked everything. When a mysterious stranger arrives with an invitation, she makes a decision that will define generations. Bold, compassionate, and courageous, she’s tested in every imaginable way after a conversation with God sets her on an irreversible path.
Isaac is burdened by an inheritance he didn’t ask for and haunted by a faith he both fears and yearns to understand. The son of Abraham and Sarah, he’s a man deeply shaped by his near sacrifice from his father’s hand at God’s instruction.
Jacob is a survivor and a strategist who, mired by his position as the second-born son, learns to rely on cunning and determination for the blessing he seeks. In Jacob, we see not perfection, but transformation. Not divine purity, but divine persistence.
Esau is a hunter and a warrior who carries the weight of expectation placed on the firstborn son. He is loved deeply by his family, but becomes a pawn in a larger game that plays out between him and his brother.
It was announced last month that the first episode of The Faithful will star Bible-movie veteran Minnie Driver as Sarah, Jeffrey Donovan as Abraham, and Natacha Karam as Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid who becomes Abraham’s concubine.
The third episode will focus on Leah and Rachel, two sisters—and nieces of Rebekah’s—who marry Jacob. No casting announcements have been made for that episode yet; we don’t even know if Tom Payne will still be playing Jacob in that episode.
The three episodes will air on Sunday nights between March 22 and April 5, 2026.
Upcoming Bible movies and TV shows:
September 5, 2025 — Light of the World (theatrical: Salvation Poem Project)
September 6, 2025 — You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution... (theatrical: Toronto International Film Festival)
September 18, 2025 — Sight & Sound Presents: Noah - Live! (theatrical: Fathom)
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)
Most of the Egyptian characters in the biblical story are anonymous, and I assume the show has given at least some of them names. But this character could be simply invented for the series, too.