By Gavin Boyle
Jonathan Roumie recalled a moment from the first season of THE CHOSEN when he felt the weight of playing Jesus and questioned if he was right for the role.
“A crowd starts growing outside the house as Jesus is preaching…It made me really self aware and I thought, ‘What am I saying? What are these words? Like, these are holy words said by the holiest person that ever walked the face of the earth. I shouldn’t be doing this. This feels wrong,’” Roumie told Tucker Carlson.
The feeling was so unsettling that Roumie eventually asked the director, Dallas Jenkins, if he could have a break because the scene was starting to wear on him. He then shared how he was feeling unworthy of portraying Jesus.
“And [Jenkins] puts his hand on my shoulder, and he says, ‘Brother, none of us are truly worthy. Here we are, I mean, it’s you and me, we’re here doing this so the world may know His story, those who haven’t heard His story,’” Roumie recalled.
That reassurance changed everything for the actor as he realized that though he was a flawed person taking on the role of the perfect human, God had chosen him for this role and had been preparing him all of his life. As Roumie has previously shared, not only had he given his career to the Lord only a few months before starting to work on THE CHOSEN, but he also reenacted the crucifixion for himself as a boy. Furthermore, the world always needs more of God, and this show was going to introduce Him to a whole new set of people.
“As a society, we need this right now,” Roumie said. “We need more of God in culture. We need people to know that they are loved, as different as we all are, God still loves [us] and everybody has a place in God’s family. And how can we reach out to those who are hurting and those who are desperate, those who are in pain. And if a TV show is able to help encourage people and make them feel closer to Jesus and closer to God, that’s my ministry right there.”
Related: How God Prepared Jonathan Roumie for His Role on THE CHOSEN
While this moment allowed Roumie to continue with the series and fully take on the role of Jesus, he has returned to it time and time again to remind himself just how important this job is. Because he is portraying Jesus, every action he takes on and off the screen can impact the faith of those around him.
“I don’t feel like a responsibility to be Jesus to people. I have a responsibility to play this role as authentically as possible knowing that it will impact people in a way that only God can understand,” Roumie previously said.
As THE CHOSEN continues to impact hundreds of millions of lives, it is amazing to see Roumie keep his focus on the Lord, rather than soak up the fame for himself.
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