Up Close and Personal: Vanessa DeSilvio

Actress and HPUMC congregant Vanessa DeSilvio portrayed the woman at the well in ‘The Chosen,’ a multi-season series about the life of Jesus, exploring how Jesus sat with and truly saw the Samaritan woman. After a unique audition experience, receiving the role allowed DeSilvio to combine her faith and her love for acting.

Desilvio’s agent sent her the information for the audition and the scene for the faith-based role, and after she looked into the show, she said she was hooked.

“The writing was just so well written,” Desilvio said. “I knew of the story from the Bible, but I had never seen it this way. I read the scene and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is really good.’”

Desilvio prepared her audition, recording it at home with her husband playing Jesus. A few days later, she got a callback and went in to see film director Dallas Jenkins for a follow-up audition.

“He basically, in so many words, told me, ‘I can't wait to work with you,’ and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, you never hear that at auditions,’” Desilvio said. “You normally go home, then hear later.”

However, Desilvio’s schedule happened to conflict with the filming schedule for the scene, and she said she thought she lost the role.

“On the drive home I prayed and I said, ‘Lord, your will be done. If this role is meant to be mine, I will take it and I want it. I really do want it. I know I can do this role, but if it's not meant to be mine, I know you have something else out there for me,’” Desilvio said. “I left it in his hands.”

A few days later, Desilvio received a phone call from her agent, who told her that the shooting schedule had been changed so they could shoot her scene a week earlier, a rarity in the industry. Desilvio was able to act as the woman at the well in ‘The Chosen.’

“I was very happy with it, but not even in my wildest dreams would I have expected it to have this sort of following,” Desilvio said. “As an actor of faith, I feel so humbled at the same time that people are able to use this scene and this series as a way to come closer to God.”

This month, HPUMC is exploring the stories of Jesus getting up close and personal with a handful of people in the Gospel of John, including the woman at the well.

“An up close and personal relationship with God means having him at the center of your life,” Desilvio said. “I'm also allowing my children to witness that, and I'm hoping they will, in turn, do the same, by witnessing mom and dad putting God first and having him as first and foremost.”