\u201cThese are three generations of women who passed the baton of what was set in motion by Sarah and Abraham and the episodes are all in a way portraits of different types of marriages,\u201d says Ren\u00e9 Echevarria, who wrote the first installment and is the series\u2019 showrunner.<\/p>\n
However, like the Bible\u2019s many miracles, \u201cThe Faithful\u201d coming together in the first place is divine considering executive producing partners Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz were actually not planning to pitch it when they were in a meeting with Fox TV executives on one fateful day.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774099575_901_.jpeg\")
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\u201cThe Faithful\u201d begins with the story of Sarah (Minnie Driver) and Abraham.<\/p>\n
(Moris Puccio \/ Fox)<\/p>\n
\u201cJulie gave me one instruction, \u2018We can talk about all of our projects but do not talk about the Bible,\u2019\u201d recalls Mendelsohn. But then Fox President Michael Thorn asked Mendelsohn what her passion project was and \u201cIt was like I was hit by the burning bush!\u201d<\/p>\n
So \u201cThe Faithful\u201d was pitched and a green light was given for the show. \u201cI guess it was divinely ordered,\u201d Mendelsohn says, laughing.<\/p>\n
Crafting a Bible-based event series may initially seem like a stretch for Mendelsohn, known for producing the massively popular \u201cCSI\u201d crime drama franchise and, since partnering with Weitz over a decade ago, contemporary dramas where God wasn\u2019t a part of the story. However, with \u201cThe Faithful,\u201d the common thread with their previous projects was very clear. \u201cEverything that we do together comes from characters that we fall deeply in love with and we love to do stories about women,\u201d says Weitz. \u201cWe were thinking of doing something in this world when \u201cThe Chosen\u201d [the Prime Video series about Jesus Christ] came out and became a huge hit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mendelsohn and Weitz brought Echevarria on board and once they dug into the respective stories of these influential women, \u201cit became clear that we should give two hours to each of these matriarchs and tell that story, which is the genesis of not just Judaism, but Islam and Christianity, the three largest, most prominent religions of mankind,\u201d says Weitz, who is also grateful for Fox\u2019s programming strategy for the episodes. \u201cIt worked nicely because they are giving us Sunday Nights leading right through Passover and into Easter so it just made sense to [Fox] too.\u201d<\/p>\n
For varying perspectives, the show utilized both Christian and Jewish scholars, which backed up their storytelling objectives, given that these age-old stories traditionally didn\u2019t always flesh out women as much as men, so leaning into an interpretation of text was not taboo. \u201cOur Jewish scholar mentioned, \u2018what you\u2019re doing is called midrash, an ancient tradition in Judaism to look at these stories and read between the lines,\u2019\u201d says Echevarria.<\/p>\n
That interpretive freedom can be seen in the show\u2019s first installment, which explores Genesis 16 where Sarah, barren for years despite God having told Abraham that she would bear a child in her older age, enlists former Egyptian slave Hagar (Natacha Karam) to sleep with her husband in the hopes she\u2019ll give them a child. Driver says Sarah\u2019s story is one that many women can connect with, but as far as who the real woman was, there\u2019s a lack of true definition. \u201cWho knows what Sarah was like? We don\u2019t know. She doubted and, to some people, she thwarted God, but actually to me, she was just a woman who wanted to have a baby, loved her husband very much and was very strong,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774099575_111_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Natacha Karam plays Egyptian slave Hagar, who bears Abraham\u2019s child. <\/p>\n
(Stefano Cristiano Montesi \/ Fox)<\/p>\n
Donovan notes that Sarah suggesting Abraham lie with Hagar in Genesis 16 initially comes across as a straightforward and simple sentence. \u201cBut there\u2019s so much to unpack in that one line from the Bible,\u201d he says. \u201cThe complex struggles that these three people must have had that people today are still having 4,000 years later? We\u2019re still going, \u2018I can\u2019t have a baby. Let\u2019s have her have our baby. But do you like her? Is she better than me?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But as much as Sarah\u2019s plight with infertility is relatable, other moments in the story took more work to get there, like the moment where Abraham talks with God. \u201cI can only imagine what it would feel like to speak to God,\u201d Donovan says.<\/p>\n
To grapple with that notion before shooting this particular scene, the actor, dressed in his character\u2019s tunic and waiting on the crew to set up, found a spot to sit on under a tree and thought about Abraham\u2019s daily life and how impactful a message from God would be. \u201cHe\u2019s a shepherd that got up with the sun and watched his flock and tried to survive,\u201d Donovan says. \u201c\u2018How do I not die today? How do I feed my family?\u2019 For me to give the respect to the character, that deserves a couple of hours of solace and solitude.\u201d He calls it the most difficult scene in the series for him.<\/p>\n
And while the show explores Sarah and Abraham\u2019s marriage, it also dives into the relationship between Sarah and Hagar, which begins when a captive Sarah is freed and she takes slave Hagar with her to give her a better life.<\/p>\n
\u201cHagar finds herself pulled into this story that\u2019s far larger than anything that she could ever have imagined for herself,\u201d says Karam, adding that the two women grow close but conflicts also arise. \u201cOriginally, the relationship is defined by hierarchy and necessity and then there\u2019s this complicated dependence that bounds them together for life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The actor expressed her satisfaction that the story of Sarah and Hagar is given a positive portrayal since that\u2019s not always been the case. \u201cThere are versions of that story that are read through a lens of reprimanding both of these women, which I want to say is shocking but it was actually quite predictable to spin it so that it ends up being, \u2018Oh, look what these two women did when they tried to take control,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774099576_72_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cHagar finds herself pulled into this story that\u2019s far larger than anything that she could ever have imagined for herself,\u201d says Natacha Karam, left, with Minnie Driver and Jeffrey Donovan.<\/p>\n
(Moris Puccio \/ Fox)<\/p>\n
The spin from the cast and crew on the production itself was that with all \u201cThe Faithful\u201d episodes filming in the ancient city of Rome, the series benefited from what the city had to offer in terms of scenic authenticity. Also, the unforgiving heat while shooting outdoor scenes wasn\u2019t fun but also wasn\u2019t a total negative, says Driver. \u201cI\u2019ve never been outside in 100-plus degree heat for 10 or 11 hours a day. It was brutal, but it definitely lent to the veracity of the story like where you were so beyond hot and exhausted,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s a generosity of its history that you\u2019re invited in. It was this fever dream, the whole experience of being there.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while the Sarah-Abraham-Hagar story fills out the first episode, the March 29 installment continues the drama with the introduction of Rebekah (Alexa Davalos), who marries Sarah and Abraham\u2019s son, Isaac (Tom Mison). Also barren for many years, she eventually receives a message directly from God that she will have twin sons and that her youngest son will one day rule. With the arrival of Esau (Ben Robson), who is born first, and Jacob (Tom Payne), she\u2019s faced with a burden to ensure God\u2019s message stays on course at any cost. \u201cThe story becomes about how she almost destroys her family because she\u2019s been told that this is the way, this is the destiny,\u201d says Weitz.<\/p>\n
The April 5 finale, airing on Easter Sunday, moves forward as a now-exiled Jacob returns to his hometown and meets two sisters, Leah (Millie Brady) and Rachel (Blu Hunt), and sparks fly. Teases Echevarria, \u201ctonally the episode is a little bit different and it\u2019s a little more scandalous but certainly contemporary.\u201d Adds Weitz, \u201cJacob falls in love with both of the sisters for different reasons and at different times so it becomes a story about sister rivalry for the love of the same man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Love is something audiences have been feeling in recent years for faith-inspired programs, which keeps this three-week event from feeling like a television anomaly. For example, Prime Video\u2019s \u201cThe Chosen\u201d has been exploring the life of Jesus Christ (Jonathan Roumie) for five seasons with a sixth season centered on Jesus\u2019 crucifixion coming later this year. Also, on March 27, Prime Video launches the second season of \u201cHouse of David<\/a>,\u201d which follows the journey of young shepherd David (Michael Iskander) from slaying a certain giant named Goliath to becoming the king of Israel. And earlier this month, faith-centric streamer the Wonder Project<\/a> wrapped the first season of its contemporary drama series, \u201cIt\u2019s Not Like That,\u201d starring Scott Foley as a widowed minister raising his kids and finding love again. Plus, no Easter holiday would feel right without ABC\u2019s annual broadcast of the 1956 classic film \u201cThe Ten Commandments,\u201d airing April 4.<\/p>\n Why is faith TV having a moment now? The appetite for this kind of programming by audiences could reflect the often-bleak world of the 21st century we live in, offers Karam. \u201cThese are stories about people who are in the middle of impossible circumstances, who can\u2019t see what the lesson is yet, or whether there\u2019s light on the other side,\u201d she says. \u201cBut historically, there always was and there always is [light on the other side] so I think that\u2019s what people are hungry for right now is a framework to make sense of things.\u201d<\/p>\n As long as this hunger continues and audiences show up for \u201cThe Faithful,\u201d the producers have a wealth of stories to tell beyond the great matriarchs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe difference from a regular TV show is that we do have this extraordinary IP and this different perspective,\u201d says Echevarria. \u201cOur hope is that ours will always be a little different and we\u2019d come at it from a different angle.\u201d Sounds like the faith is definitely being kept.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A loving husband and wife desperately want to start a family but struggle with infertility. A mother bears…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[104488,53316,104489,4566,104494,104492,14876,104491,4264,48,52,51,47,50,49,4284,104493,44727,15158,3044,104490],"class_list":["post-230123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-abraham","tag-bible","tag-center-woman","tag-episode","tag-faithful","tag-first-installment","tag-god","tag-hagar","tag-husband","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-love","tag-mendelsohn","tag-sarah","tag-sister","tag-story","tag-weitz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}