‘They Made Mistakes but Persevered’—René Echevarria on New Fox Series ‘The Faithful: Women of the Bible’

René Echevarria, executive producer of the new Fox series “The Faithful: Women of the Bible,” told ChurchLeaders that he hopes the series shows the world that God works through imperfect people.

“The Faithful: Women of the Bible” focuses Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel. It releases its first of four episodes on March 22.

Echevarria shared that he and producing partner Carol Mendelson ultimately chose the matriarchs of Genesis because their lives mark the beginning of God’s redemptive plan.

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“The story of the matriarchs…it’s really the beginning of God setting in motion his plan that comes to fruition thousands of years later,” he said.

Known for producing “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Dark Angel,” and “Teen Wolf,” Echevarria said that the stories of these women in the Old Testament stood out because of how deeply human and relatable they are.

He said, “As strong and dynamic and brave as these women were, they also were flawed, and they made mistakes, and they stumbled. But they persevered.”

Echevarria shared that each woman’s story resonated with him in different ways, particularly when it comes to themes surrounding family and faith. He explained that his own experience of struggling to start a family helped him connect personally to these stories.

“You start to worry like, ‘Is this ever going to happen for us?’” he said. “We just needed to let go and trust that if that’s what God wanted for us, then it would happen.”

Echevarria noted that he and his wife now have three children.

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The creative team sought to depict events as accurately as possible where the Bible provides detail, while thoughtfully filling in the emotional and cultural context where it does not.