“I do a lot of research. A lot. You can’t really go, ‘I’ll just look it up and see photos.’ You glean through art and pick and choose,” says The Chosen costume designer Leila Heise, who joined midway through the first season and outfits the main cast, guest stars and extras with her small staff of about 12 people.
The process begins in preproduction and the team sews all the way up to the very last flick of a flowing robe when shooting wraps. Many looks are based on Heise’s research, but she also gets directives from producers.
“They do write certain things in the script,” she notes. At one point, there was a request for more color and texture, so when Joey Vahedi joined the cast as Thomas, Heise gave him stripes. Coming up, “We have a lot of different factions of the Roman guard now, so we have to pump them up. A lot is happening in Seasons 4 and 5,” Heise shares.
Scroll down as she breaks down some key costumes.
The Chosen, Season 4, In Theaters