Jonathan Roumie had what he calls his “surrender” moment before landing the role of Jesus in the crowd-funded film and television series, “The Chosen.”
“I got to a point where there was no work,” he explains. “I always kept my faith and my work separate … and I think that harmed me. So in an act of desperation, I fell to my knees and I said, ‘God, if you want me to stay in this business, you have to take over and I’m going to give everything to you. If you want me to get out of the business, I’ll get out.’”
That moment – which occurred seven years ago this May – represented Roumie’s low point. “I was broke. I literally was out of food and I had no options,” he says. “All my side hustles just dried up. I couldn’t get arrested to drive for Uber. I’d get in a car and I’d sit there for an hour and not a single call would come in.”
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Mere hours after his prayer, the actor came back to his apartment and found four checks in his mailbox. “It made no sense,” Roumie says. “These checks were like old residual checks that never got paid. I had this windfall and I had just given everything over to God.”
Jonathan Roumie, a New York-based actor, plays Jesus in the series, "The Chosen." The latest edition, "The Last Supper," hits theaters in March.
Three months later, Roumie heard from Dallas Jenkins, an Illinois church’s media director, who he had worked with on a series of short films. “We’re doing four episodes of a crowd-funded show,” Jenkins told him. “It probably won’t go anywhere but you’ll have a few episodes of work.”
Roumie signed on to play Jesus “and here we are, five seasons later, a global smash and about to film our sixth season. I just marvel at what has happened because my life, from that moment I was on my knees, has never been the same.”
That little project – referred to as “The Chosen” – has been seen worldwide, was translated into some 100 languages (with a goal of 600) and is about to hit theaters with its latest season, “The Last Supper.”
The series began in 2017. Producers raised $4 million for four episodes
“and it took eight months to raise that money. Then, when they were going into raising money for the second half of the season, they released a teaser and the time it took to raise the back half went like that,” Roumie says, snapping his fingers. “It was incredible. When we saw that happening, there was this energy and this spirit. To see it pan out with investors and people who wanted to help us get it made was confirmation.”
Director Dallas Jenkins, left, discuses a scene with Jonathan Roumie in "The Chosen" series, which has been a global phenomenon among religious productions.
Jenkins and company released the series “and then COVID hit,” Roumie says. “Dallas and the team said, ‘We’ve got to do something to contribute to how everybody’s feeling here.’ And so, they made the show free and contributions, which they were relying on to make the show, quintupled. The minute we made it free, it went viral.”
By season four, the folks behind “The Chosen” had a foundation established that could guarantee that seven seasons would be made. “Its global impact is increasing as we speak,” the 50-year-old says.
In the latest edition, Jesus meets with his disciples and tells them what will happen and where they fit in. “The Last Supper” details those days before the crucifixion and how they affected Jesus.
While Roumie, a New York native, grew up a Christian, he never researched how Jesus might look or act.
“I always thought he would be like somebody from the Middle East. My father’s from the Middle East, so I always thought he would have a darker complexion and, if he were to speak English, there would probably be some sort of Middle Eastern accent. So when I got the opportunity to put my stamp on it, I said, ‘Nobody’s ever done that and I don’t understand why, but I’m going to do it.’”
Jonathan Roumie stars in "The Chosen."
Playing Jesus, Roumie adds, “has deepened my faith exponentially. It’s made me want to be the best version of a human that I can to everybody I encounter in the world, whether they have beliefs. The point is, we’re all on this rock together for a finite amount of time and how can we make each other’s lives better?”
While Roumie has done other roles since “The Chosen” (he just finished a comedy with Kevin James), this one towers.
The accent, he says is a blend of his aunt’s – who’s from Palestine – and his father’s –who’s from Egypt. “She has a very thick accent, my dad’s is much lighter,” Roumie says. “It’s been a blend that has happened a little bit over time. Finding that sweet spot to make sure I could be understood by anybody in the Midwest … has been a special personal touch that I’ve been able to give the role.”
And the reaction? Roumie has been asked to baptize children, marry couples and hear confession. He begs off, of course but "it's been pretty wild."
