The Chosen’s Jonathan Roumie on Staying Humble: Without Jesus, ‘I Am Nothing’
- Michael Foust Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
- Updated May 28, 2024
The actor who portrays Jesus in the hit series The Chosen says he has remained humble by following Christ's example and recognizing that "everything that I have is because of Him." Jonathan Roumie is one of the most recognizable actors in entertainment. He has portrayed Jesus in a series with 200 million viewers worldwide and has been featured in countless ads and magazine articles. On the street, people sometimes call him "Jesus."
Asked by Crosswalk Headlines how he has remained humble, Roumie said he looks to Christ and remembers his roots. Before he landed the role of Jesus in The Chosen, Roumie was an actor struggling for work and was nearly broke. The series' success continued to grow this year when The Chosen, Season 4, was nominated for a 2024 K-Love Fan Award in the category of Film Impact. It will air Friday on TBN at 8 Eastern.
"Jesus is the ultimate," Roumie answered. "And if I'm trying to model my life after Him, He was the supreme example of humility. You look at the cross. There's no one that was more humble than He was. And so I have to remember that everything that I have is because of Him -- everything that I went through was to get to this point where I surrendered to Him. And as a result, He's taken me out of the pit and put me here with you guys and [director] Dallas [Jenkins] and [actress] Liz [Tabish] and an incredible place.
"I pinch myself every day. Words cannot really adequately describe how I feel, but all of it goes back to Him. And without Him, I am nothing."
He said it is essential to stay "connected to your faith" and be "grounded in your belief."
"I work for somebody like Dallas -- he keeps me pretty humble," Roumie said, smiling.
Jenkins, who created the show, said he and the actors often look back to the series' first year when it had yet to grow in popularity. Jenkins launched The Chosen following the box office failure of a film he directed, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone.
"All three of us, genuinely, in the months leading up to season one of the show ... were probably in some of the darkest places of our lives, and that's been true of a lot of the cast who came to the show. And I think that's part of it," Jenkins said, referencing the desire to remain humble. "... So many of us have embraced that we're not worthy, and that we're surrendered and humbled -- and may that never change."
Roumie said he and the cast and crew are blessed to be able to "do something that nobody's ever done before -- which is tell the story of Jesus of Nazareth in long-form format, for television, over the course of several years." The role, he said, has strengthened his faith. The Prime Video series Jonathan and Jesus follows Roumie's journey as an actor portraying Christ.
"The more time you spend with Jesus and His words, and His ministry, and the people that were impacted by His ministry, the more unavoidably shaken your soul is by His words, by His life, by His example," he said. "For me, I've just gone much deeper into my prayer life, I've gone deeper into my own faith."
Photo credit: ©Angel Studios; used with permission.
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
