Wait…Jonathan Roumie Is Friends with This Actor?

Published: June 18, 2025

Jonathan Roumie of THE CHOSEN — Movieguide® Red Carpet Photo

By Kayla DeKraker

THE CHOSEN star Jonathan Roumie shared some surprising facts about his life with costar Elijah Alexander in a new YouTube video series called “The Spy Who Fed Me.”

“I was born in St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York City in a neighborhood known as ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’” Roumie revealed as the pair talked over a Mediterranean dinner.

“Our onscreen Jesus was born in Hell’s Kitchen. How perfect,” Alexander quipped.

Roumie laughed, “How ironic, huh?”

“Hell’s Kitchen” refers to an area in New York City that “was overcrowded due to the numerous immigrant groups who were trying to eke out a living. The struggle for survival made violence the way of life in the neighborhood,” or so the theory goes.

Roumie may be best known for his role in THE CHOSEN, but his acting career began long before that as a voice actor.

Alexander said, “You are an impressionist of some note. In fact, one of your early jobs was as a voice actor on MTV CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH. Give us a few of your go-to voices that you got in your back pocket.”

“For the older crowd, they might remember Marlon Brando was probably my favorite,” Roumie said before launching into his impressive impression of the famed actor.

His artistic abilities extend beyond acting, though, and he once was an air-brush artist in high school.

“Since the dawn of civilization, people have needed to express their experience of life,” he said of why people connect with art. “There’s this, I think, pre-born, innate need to express the deepest longings and yearnings of our souls to reflect on the divine, to reflect on what it is to struggle through life, what it is to experience life. Highs and lows, like, all of that needs to come from somewhere within an artist.”

When THE CHOSEN first began, Roumie was working on another project with actor Russell Brand.

“For two years I was Russell Brand’s stand-in on a show for HBO called BALLERS,” Roumie revealed. “I had just started doing THE CHOSEN. The DP on that show for the, I think, the third season wanted the stand-ins to be familiar with the dialogue…He’s like ‘Yeah just do as much as you can.’ I’m like ‘Okay.’”

He continued, “So, I started learning his lines, and then I got a little cheeky by the second season, and I started doing them as Russell Brand.”

The role caused him to develop a friendship with the actor: “I saw his crucifix and I’m like ‘Hey I’m playing Jesus on a show.’ And that started our friendship.”

Roumie and Brand are both outspoken about their faith in God and have talked about their friendship as well.

Previously in an interview, Brand said, “My friend Jonathan [portrayed] our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But [he] was also my body double when I acted in HBO’s show with The Rock, BALLERS. So, I’m able to say that Jesus was my body double.”

Roumie returned the sentiment: “Russell, you’re an innovator and a truth-teller, but if you ever wanted to return the favor and be Jesus’ body double, I got you, and it’d make a great story.”

It’s incredible to see Roumie continue to use his life and career to spread hope and the message of Jesus.

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