For many people, Jonathan Roumie has become the face of Jesus because of his portrayal of the Savior on the popular show, “The Chosen.” However, the fame, fans and foes that come with the territory weren’t always part of Roumie’s life. Instead, he was at a breaking point before getting cast as the most iconic person of all time.
In an interview with The New Yorker, Roumie shared that he was nearly out of money and was limping through his acting career. During this time, he cried out to the Lord and encountered His presence in a supernatural way. Roumie then went out to breakfast where he spent his last $20. Upon returning home, he discovered four checks in his mailbox. This miraculous event led up to him receiving a call from Dallas Jenkins about “The Chosen.”
“I love Jesus and it is the honor of my life to get to portray Him,” Roumie told Deseret News. “As long as God keeps bringing me stories that I can honor Him with, to me, it doesn’t matter what genre they may or may not fall into. It just happens to be that at this stage, there is a lot for me to mine and relate to that are in sort of the faith-minded genre.”
For the devout Catholic, Roumie strives to not only portray the best version of Jesus that he can on screen, but he also desires to grow closer and more like Christ each day.
“Jesus is the only character who I would hope to stay in character as all the time,” Roumie said to The New Yorker. “But some people want a spiritual encounter, and that can be hard to live up to. I’m not Jesus.”
To date, the Angel Studio app has had over 556 million people watch “The Chosen’s” first three seasons. People all over the world have been impacted by Roumie’s depiction of Jesus, something far from what he would’ve imagined just a few years ago. Roumie’s growth on the big screen, however, hasn’t stopped with his portrayal of Jesus.
Roumie recently captivated audiences with Evangelist Lonnie Frisbee’s story in “Jesus Revolution.” The film broke all box office expectations and soared to the top of the charts on Amazon.
In an interview with Charisma News, “Jesus Revolution” producer Andy Erwin said that the film was resonating with people because of the heart-rendering content that speaks to the desires each of us ultimately have to know and be known by God.
“I think this film represents an inner yearning for so many people,” Erwin said. “It represents a desire of God to do it again…like never before. For people outside the church, especially a younger generation, it represents the answer to the equation for something I think they’ve been desperately looking for.”
It’s these Spirit-filled pieces that are touching a new generation, and we can see that God is using Roumie and his heart for the gospel to bring people closer to Jesus. {eoa}
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
