Amber Shana Williams is an actress best known for her role as Tamar in the historical drama series, The Chosen, which follows the life of Jesus along with his disciples and other key figures of the time. Tamar was introduced in the 2nd half of the first season and has been aboard ever since. During our conversation, Amber and I discussed Tamar’s background and journey throughout the series, how some aspects mirror her own life, lessons on how to keep her faith through loss and life’s challenges that can affect one’s mental health, along with the importance of film extras, joys of living abroad, and what to expect in season 6 of the series, which premieres this November.
Let’s start off with a little bit about your latest role in the television series, The Chosen.
Well, I play Tamar on The Chosen. She was introduced in season one and kind of came in with a mission, with a purpose, and that was it. She was the friend of Ethan, the healed paralytic who represented Jesus’ first public miracle and somehow, the show’s showrunner and co-writer, Dallas Jenkins, saw fit to bring me back for good, making me part of the main cast. So, since season one up until the last day of filming season 7 last week, that’s who I’ve been playing. Her journey started from being that friend without family and then finding one in the disciples and Jesus.
How did the role come about, initially?
I mean, most jobs and opportunities that we receive as actors come from castings through our agents and managers but funny enough, I had actually just moved to Spain and had been there a whole year. They started filming the show in 2018 and I came along in 2019. They had only got into the first four episodes and still needed to do the last four episodes of the first season. They got the funding and afterward is when I came in. I got the audition through my rep at the time and I was like, “Another faith-based project”. Well, I had my preconceived notions, like most people do but luckily for me, they had their first webisodes up on YouTube already.
So, I took a gander at those and was wowed and really impressed by the cinematography and the way that they were going about the story in a new way I’d never seen before. I was like, “I have to be on there”. So, I sent him my tape but it was not for the role I actually ended up getting. It was for the role of Fatiyah, the lady at the well but let him tell it, Dallas says his wife, Amanda Jenkins was like, “Let’s see that one girl for this other role we have.”, which was Tamar, who I ended up playing. I made no money in the first two seasons because I flew myself from Madrid to Dallas because they were looking for local hires in Texas. Hotel, rental cars, flying, etc. All that was on me. That’s how much I believed in the role on the project.
You know, it’s odd because my sister has watched the show and knew exactly who you were when I mentioned it to her. She is a fan. Also, you know how the internet is watching us, basically (Oh, yea) and the algorithms are picking up on what we’re discussing online, in emails, etc.? Well, when we were gearing up for this interview, I was scrolling the timeline on Facebook and just happened to see a photo of one of my high school classmates in wardrobe as she was an extra on season 7 of the show. What is her name? Her name is Brittany Cohorst.
Let me tell you something. If we did not have those extras on there, I don’t know how we’d be able to find ourselves in the same places that we find ourselves, like with the energy that they give us because it makes it feel like it’s the first century. They’re out there sweating it out with us. We’re all in the trenches together making this show. So, she is absolutely Chosen family. I might have seen her face. We usually try to make it our business to get to know the extras because they’re just a part of this as we are.
I know a lot of people start off working as extras and then they end up getting full time and series regular roles, so I fully understand. You mentioned commuting from Spain to Dallas. What brought you to Spain to begin with?
It was with a previous partner and when the opportunity presented itself, I was like, “I cannot be moving across the planet for a man. That can’t be the only reason I do that”. Lol, so, I prayed about it and made a promise to myself that if I move to Spain, two things have to happen. The first thing is I have to learn Spanish because what is the use of being in this country if I don’t add that to my tool belt. The second was that I was going to be working in this country. I thought the second would be a lot harder than the first, but it’s actually the other way around.
I started working the following year. I was booking before I even had a hold of Spanish because I kind of posed a unique existence out there. There’s plenty of black people and plenty of black women, but it’s slightly different because they didn’t focus on immigration until the mid 80s through the mid-90s.
So, a lot of the black women there are biracial women, but when they’re looking for something that’s maybe a period piece or something that is calling for an American black woman who maybe depending on what era it’s coming from and they want someone with darker skin who speaks English with an American accent, it was me. One out of the three people in the country. So, I got really lucky with that.
That’s interesting because we’re based in Atlanta now but my sister was talking about moving to Spain before moving here. Can you tell me a little more about that transition? She was talking about going for months and then changed her mind at the last minute so I’m sure the insight would be helpful.
Well, honestly, if anyone ever tells me they have the opportunity to move abroad, I say do it. Just do it. No matter how the experience ends up being on the other side, it is going to be worth it, no matter what. There is something really humbling too about going to another country, being the “other” and being forced to learn how to speak their language and communicate without language and things like that. So first off, off the bat, that’s why she should do it. It’s going to be rewarding either way.
Second of all, Spain in particular, I think Spanish is kind of one of the most useful other languages we could speak living in the U.S. for many reasons. Also, depending on what her job is, if she can work remote…I’m not quite sure if she’s already working right now but the cost of living over there is so much lower than it is here so she can take what she makes here, keep working remote here, and get certain visas that allow her to live in Madrid. Her money can go a lot further than it will here. I’m telling you that going from a €500 a month mortgage to a $5,000 a month mortgage is a big difference.
Also, the food is great. She can go to any other country she wants in a matter of an hour or two, or she can take a train to another city. Everything is so much more accessible with so much history and you get to navigate these new parts of life that you don’t really get the opportunity to as much when you’re here at home…if that makes sense.
Yeah. I got you, totally. You know, she’s over 10 years younger than me. We were a military family growing up so we lived in Germany for a couple of years before she was born and we traveled a bit.
Lol, no you didn’t! Where were you at in Germany?
We were in Pirmasens and then Karlsruhe, Germany, not too far from Mannheim, and close to Kaiserslautern (aka K-Town) and places like that.
I love that. I’m also a military brat and I was also living in Germany, but I was living in Spangdahlem, which is near Bitburg. It’s about 1.5 hours north of Ramstein.
Fun Fact: K-Town is next door to (east of) Ramstein and Ramstein is roughly 45 minutes north of Pirmasens. I had some great times in Germany.
Lloret DeMar, Spain was one of the places we visited while we were over there. I enjoyed that trip the most, along with the UK (because they spoke English). My sister wasn’t here to experience that so I’m sure that is one of the reasons she wants to get out there. How old is she? She is 28 now.
Oh, yeah. This is the time to go. They have a lot of heart in that area of Europe, in general. Know that where we go and when I say we, I know you understand what I mean. We are going to go there and immediately feel comfortable in a space because we have to feel it out and see how we are treated and things like this but I can say that’s one of the few places that I’ve gone where I’ve had some of the most minimal poor experiences and have gained so much more.
Obviously, going out and having fun and meeting people and things like that. I found the biggest community, especially if she’s deciding on Madrid, that is called, “Melanin Madrid” and they are this group of black, indigenous, and people of color. A group for us to have resources, friends, and meet ups and things in Madrid. It was like a lifesaver for me when I got there.
Oh, yeah. I’m definitely going to let her know because she’s still talking about going at some point. I appreciate that. Let’s get into a little bit about how you got your acting start and things of that nature.
Okay. Well kind of like most people, I had a dream and probably like a lot of other people, our parents are like, “That’s cute, but you’re going to get a degree and such and such”. So, although they admired my tenacity, they didn’t necessarily support the idea of me going out for one of the most difficult careers that could possibly exist.
So yeah, me dancing in living rooms with the microphone at 3, forcing everybody to watch me is where it started. But, I want to say around 2009, I moved back to the U.S. from Germany and I was still in college, about to wrap up, and I felt it calling to me again.
I did one of those scammy mall model searches. It had like available extra opportunities and I was like, “I could be an extra on something.” and I ended up being an extra on Friday Night Lights in the fifth season. I also ended up being an extra on a lot of other shows that were going on in Texas at that time, but it was as an extra, just like your classmate, that I was like, “You know, I think I could actually do this”.
A few more years went by, I got my degree, ended up in nursing school and all these other things then someone really, really close to me, my grandfather (who has since passed away), said to me, “Amber, I worked damn hard enough in my life for you to do whatever it is you want to do with your’s.” and it changed the trajectory of everything else after that.
He said, “You should do that acting thing.” then he passed away the next day. I did not immediately go and do the acting thing. It wasn’t until a few months later when my cousin came to me like, “I had a weird dream about Doc.”, which is what he called my Paw Paw. I was just like, “Okay, what?” and I’m like in the deep depths of depression at this time because that was my best friend.
He goes, “I don’t know. He said something about you doing what you’re supposed to do because he worked for it or something like that”. It was just me and my Paw Paw in that conversation. Whether he told him before he passed away and my cousin just now remembered or whether my grandpa did somehow send me a message, that was all I needed to hear.
I left everything behind and didn’t end up taking my nursing exam. Mind you, I paid for that. My mom was not happy and I was without for a while, for maybe about a year but somehow, I kept surviving. The next thing I know, a couple of years later, I start working on smaller projects, then I moved to Spain, then I booked The Chosen. Then, everything changes.
You mentioned faith-based projects, what happened with your grandfather, and things of that nature. How does that coincide with your faith and actually working on this type of show?
Yeah, I can tell you something. I grew up in church, my father was and is still a minister of music, and he was a gospel music producer for some of the greats. So, I have already like grown up in that life, in and out. As I got older and became an adult and life got real, real hard, it’s like you start to doubt and start to wonder and start to fret about everything. So, my faith became really back and forth and a little shaky and kind of…I just don’t know. It got really low. I got sick at one point and that really affected my faith. Then, I kind of got back but then my grandpa passed and that really took me for a spin.
I stayed in that spin for a hot minute. Then, I made a prayer like, “Look, if this is supposed to be for me, if this is supposed to work out this way, then let it work out like there’s absolutely nothing that I could do that could work against this if this is meant to work out”.
I had no idea how I was making rent every month at that point in time, how I was feeding myself, and how I was paying for my medication and everything. Everything I needed was supplied to me and it started to change. This very organized relationship that I had with the church started to turn into something really personal for me.
Once I got on the show, that definitely made a lot of difference from my end, because now I’m seeing how something I am a part of is affecting other people and their faith as well. There is such a responsibility that comes with that that we weren’t necessarily prepared for, because no one necessarily thought the show was going to be a successful as it is.
Once it is, you realize it is really important and seeing how their faith has changed their life is starting to inspire me and I know it inspires my castmates as well. So, it’s something I feel has grown a lot, my personal relationship since being on this show and I guess it’s (the show) over now, lol. I am very curious to see how much further that it’s going to go. It was a rocky place for a while and I’ve kind of found some stability in my faith, thankfully, on this journey.
Break down Tamar’s journey. What can we take away from her character and all that she has been through?
She’s been through a lot. She’s one of those people that have gone through so much but doesn’t look like it. Right off the cuff, you have your opinions about her. Why she is so strong acting? Why is she so outspoken, overconfident, and all of these things that are often attributed to black women?
Why is she in here taking up space? Be more humble. Over the journey of playing her, I’ve seen people start to go from, “I don’t like her because she’s to too uppity.” to “I understand exactly why she’s like that”. Tamar grew up in like a really good household and then lost her entire family in war. Everybody is gone, wiped out. Every last one of them.
Back in those days, it was not easy to be a woman, especially a woman on her own. But, she was one of the few who found her way, started her own business, built new relationships, started over again. Then, when she meets Jesus, she makes a decision to leave everything behind and start over again.
Then, when Jesus dies, she makes a decision to start everything over again. It is a lesson not in strength, because it feels almost like an insult sometimes when people call me that (strong), because it insinuates that I can take a hit and keep walking, when in fact I’m going to take a hit and I’m going to hit the ground too but I’m going to get up or sometimes crawl until I can stand up again if I have to and Tamar is like that. Tamar is immensely resilient and a lesson that sometimes your only job is to bear witness.
So, she’s the only one that comes into to this inner circle without any preconceived ideas of what Jesus was supposed to be. Everyone else thinks that he is supposed to be a war hero. He is supposed to be a king. Isn’t he supposed to lead us against battle with Rome? They’re going through all these things and they’re chucking all of these expectations on him and she’s just like, “I’m just here to do whatever you say”. We can also see in episode six of season three where she has a conversation with Mary Magdalene because they come to heads, it bubbles over, and then they talk about it, which is also a lesson in how we should approach these kinds of things. It’s talking about open communication.
She finally admits, “You know what? I didn’t know all this about you and I’m sorry for comparing my weaknesses to your strengths.” Being Tamar has taught me to take up space, be unapologetic for it, and that there is a way to do things. You don’t have to sit in silence. You can use your voice and she does that and earns respect and a family at the end.
Now, being that your character on the show and you personally have gone through quite a bit, how are you maintaining and how are you moving forward?
How am I maintaining? Therapy. Highly recommended. Ten out of ten. I’m dead serious. I believe that through the midst of all troubles, through the midst of all misunderstandings and painful situations that we go through, taking care of our mental health is going to supersede just about everything else. It’s going to give us not only the tools, but the capacity we need to be able to take on these things when they come at us.
So, that has definitely been a help. I started back up after last season because I was unable to shake it, like with a lot of the personal things that I was going through at that time, plus the tremendous amount of heaviness that came with filming season six, the crucifixion, I wasn’t able to balance these things. I wasn’t able to shake it, let it go, and continue on it.
I carried that with me and so that really helped me gain my footing again and it also prepared me for this season. It’s definitely number one on my list. Having you a really great village around you is the 2nd way I’ve been able to get through this. I’ve spoken about it before, but I think if not for my closest friends as well as my castmates because they have become my closest friends, I have no idea how I would have been able to maintain this entire time.
My hope for the future from here, I try, like Tamar, not to put a whole lot of expectations on what’s to come. I do have my hopes and my dreams. I would love to be a part of something else that moves people in the same way that this show has or that provides me an opportunity to keep working and working more because we do know that it is difficult out here and nobody knows what’s coming tomorrow. So, there are hopes and dreams but I try not to expect them to look a certain way.
When does season six of The Chosen premiere?
Well, the first episode will be coming out of November and my have we waited a while because usually we premiere each year but we took the whole entire year off. So, the first episode will come out in November and I want to say the finale, which will be a film, will be out sometime next spring.
Great. Tell me something about yourself that most don’t know.
I feel like I am an open book. Something about myself that most don’t know…I mean, I feel like a lot of people don’t know that I grew up watching kung fu movies with my daddy and he would sit there with me and my little brother and siblings and we would all have to, like, come at him and he would just…I’m not going to make the sound, but you know what the sound sounds like. Lol, yeah.
Lol, he’d be going and we’d have to try to get him and knock him down and honestly, I’ve never told anybody that before in my life. It’s some of the warmest memories I take from that time and it also fostered my love for martial arts. A few years ago, I was studying swordplay for stage or like sword fighting for a little while. Now that the show is over, I have time to pick something back up again. So, I think I’m going to pick up a new martial art and see what happens. I have bad knees and shoulders now, lol.
Lastly, how can people find you on social media?
I’m on social media on just about every platform under my full name so you can find me on Instagram @ambershanawilliams, on TikTok, Facebook. What else they got out there? Oh, Threads. Amber Shana Williams on everything.
Words + Interview By Tyrone Davis
Photos: Jonny Marlow
Makeup: Dion Xu
Hair Stylist: LaRae Burress
Stylist: Anna Schilling
