‘Grateful To God’: Jonathan Roumie Announces New Series
By Movieguide® Contributor
THE CHOSEN’s Jonathan Roumie just announced an exciting new project that shares his experiences playing Jesus on the hit show.
“Over two years in the making, and it’s finally arrived,” he wrote via Facebook. “A four-part docuseries I filmed called JONATHAN & JESUS is now available to stream exclusively on @Amazon @primevideo!”
Roumie explained that the series will not only show his experiences but also the “effect playing Jesus has had on its viewers (as well as the challenges it presents to me personally), and the monumental and universe-shifting impact #JesusChrist has had on history and culture throughout the world!”
“So grateful to God for the opportunity to give you all a glimpse into my journey and for all the folks who believed in this little project which began with an invitation to Rome to meet Pope @franciscus, going far beyond what I had ever imagined,” he wrote.
Roumie has previously spoken about the incredible impact THE CHOSEN has had on his acting career.
“I got to a point where I was desperate and out of money and out of food, and I just realized in the moment that I had no other alternative than to completely and wholly rely on my faith and to just offer everything up in prayer,” he told Deseret News. “To surrender my notions, my concept of what it meant to have a career, to be successful, to survive, and just offer that up to God.”
Soon after, he was cast as Jesus in THE CHOSEN, and his whole life changed. The actor now uses his influence to help others. He recently partnered with Unbound, a child sponsorship charity.
“Sponsoring a child is a direct expression of faith,” Roumie explained to the Catholic News Agency. “When you have the chance to participate in their life and, to an extent, be able to alleviate some of their suffering, it answers the call to bear one another’s burdens and serve each other through love. I’m excited to spread the word about the good work Unbound is doing and encourage more people to participate in a program that helps so many people around the world.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Roumie’s role in THE CHOSEN:
While at a recent conference, THE CHOSEN actor Jonathan Roumie discussed how he approaches playing the role of Jesus, and the power that TV and movies have to connect viewers to God.
Given the divine mystery that Jesus was both fully God and fully human, Roumie explained how he approaches this aspect of the character when he is portraying Jesus.
“Grace is the first word that comes to mind,” he said. “Before approaching the role, before approaching each season, there’s always a substantial amount of prayer that goes into trying to take on, as best as I can in my own sort of feeble humanity, the mind or personage of God; which is impossible. So all I can do is bring the fullness of my humanity… to the role and then ask God to utilize me sort of like a mirror to reflect his grace, his mercy, his love, his compassion, in all of the scenes.”
