Crucifixion in ‘The Chosen’ Filmed in Same Place as ‘Passion of the Christ’ ArticlePure

Dallas Jenkins, the creator of the hit drama The Chosen, revealed a major behind-the-scenes detail about the show’s upcoming season.

While speaking exclusively with PEOPLE, Jenkins, who also directs and co-writes the show, shared that season 6 will depict Jesus’ crucifixion — and it will be filmed in Matera, Italy, the same place as the crucifixion scene in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.

“The thing about filming the crucifixion is that it is the most physically and logistically challenging thing that we’ve ever done,” Jenkins, 49, told PEOPLE of the three-week shoot.

The PEOPLE App is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!

“This is where Mel Gibson filmed Passion of the Christ […] It’s one of the few places in the world that offers a first-century skyline while we’re up on crosses, but yet it’s still remote,” he explained

“It’s difficult for the crew,” he added. “We have a whole week of filming at night.”

Jenkins went on to say that the sea of technical and practical logistics means that he doesn’t have much time to dwell on the emotional, psychological and spiritual weight of the moments they are attempting to capture.

“All these things are so physically demanding and logistically challenging that the spiritual and emotional weight of it is competing with the physical and logistical weight of it. And so I don’t really have too much brain space or heart space to make this just all about a spiritual and emotional […] We have an important job to do. It has to look right, we have to capture it properly.”

“Obviously, there’s more weight. Obviously, Jonathan [Roumie, who plays Jesus] is going to go through some physical and emotional challenges. But every season of our show is important […] and so I think I would be doing the fans a disservice if I spent the next three weeks just in a state of mourning and sadness and stress”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer??, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“I’ve got a job to do,” he added.

Jenkins also stressed the importance of making the show’s depiction of the crucifixion feel real and grounded, as opposed to like a page out of a religious text.

“My job is actually to make sure that it doesn’t feel too religious, right?” he explained.

He added, “I mean, it’s making sure that we don’t say, ‘Okay, this is so important, and so deep and so weighty that it ends up feeling like a religious painting or a church sermon […].’ We’re still trying to find the humanity. It still needs to be a television show.”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

“It can’t just be everyone observing Jonathan Roumie in Dallas Jenkins’ personal explorations of the depth of pain that Jesus went through. We have to make sure that we understand the stakes of everyone involved.”

The first two episodes of The Chosen season 5 debuted on Sunday, June 15, on Prime Video. Three new episodes dropped on Sunday, June 22, and the final three episodes will air on Sunday, June 29.