Star of 'The Chosen' Recalls When Justin Bieber Witnessed to Him on Hike in Southern California

Tré Goins-Phillips : Oct 7, 2022
Faithwire.com

"He interrupted me at one point and said, 'You know, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I really feel in my bones that I'm meant to introduce you to my church, so would you come?' At the time, I had no real interest in any kind of church, but, I said to him, 'I'm not gonna say no to you, man. You're Justin Bieber. So let's go.'” -Yoshi Barrigas

[Faithwire.com] Working on a faith-based project didn't initially sound appealing to Yoshi Barrigas—the actor portraying the disciple Philip in "The Chosen"—but a chance, or perhaps divine, encounter with pop star Justin Bieber helped change his perspective. (Image: CBN Screengrab)

Sitting in a black, folding director's chair in Midlothian, Texas, just a stone's throw away from the elaborate set at the center of the forthcoming season of the beloved Bible-based series, Barrigas recalled his "serendipitous" meeting with Bieber as the two men were—unbeknownst to one another—hiking along the same mountainside in Los Angeles...

...Barrigas' days are now spent on a first-century set—an impressive plot of land spanning nearly two football fields side-by-side. In a dizzying seven months, the space that was once a cowboy's playground was transformed into a dazzling depiction of the Biblical age.

But Barrigas' presence there might not have happened without Bieber.

It all unfolded on a hike in Los Angeles, where Barrigas had found a spot to read. As he pored over the book in his hands, he heard clamoring nearby—a group of girls "chirping" with excitement, he said.

Unable to see through the trees what was transpiring, the actor turned his focus back to his book. That is, until he heard a voice across the way: "Hey, what're you reading over there?"

"I look over, and it was Justin Bieber," Barrigas said of the disembodied voice reaching out to him. "I told him what I was reading, and we started conversing from afar."

Moments later, the "Never Say Never" singer sat down with Barrigas, and the two men then talked through life's ups and downs, as well as the struggles they were each in the midst of processing.

"He interrupted me at one point and said, 'You know, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I really feel in my bones that I'm meant to introduce you to my church, so would you come?'" the actor remembered. "At the time, I had no real interest in any kind of church, but, as I said to him, 'I'm not gonna say no to you, man. You're Justin Bieber. So let's go.'"

"He was really cool about it," Barrigas continued. "He was like, 'If you like it, we'll stay, and, if you don't, we can go grab a beer.' So I was like, 'Alright, cool. No pressure. Let's go.'"

Barrigas spent the next six months, he said, attending church with the 28-year-old pop star, a professing Christian in his own right. Over that half-year period, the actor said he was exposed to the Gospels for the first time, sitting in on sermons from a church that "wasn't trying to pull me in" or "convert me."

"They were just teaching the parables of the New Testament," he said.

It was after that seemingly inexplicable encounter that Barrigas was presented with an opportunity: The chance to audition for the role as one of Jesus' disciples in "The Chosen." Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

"I felt very prepared for it and it felt like something I really wanted and [was] really motivated to get," the actor said. "And..."

Continue reading, and watch the video interview with Barrigas here.