For five seasons Jonathan Roumie has portrayed Jesus in the TV phenomenon The Chosen, an historical drama based on the life of Jesus, his friends, followers and foes. Speaking to Australian Catholics as he’s finished filming season five but before the season’s theatrical release in April 2025, Roumie said he had nothing but good things to say about the experience and a great thankfulness to God.
‘It’s been wonderful. It’s been a career changer, a life changer on so many levels. It’s deepened my faith, my walk with Christ.
‘I think once we started filming, we sort of knew that what we had was special. However, you didn’t know how it was going to be received, especially as it was originally produced in such an unorthodox method, and continues to be to some extent.’ [The show was originally crowdfunded.]
LOAVES AND FISHES
‘But we knew success was not just up to us. As Dallas Jenkins, the creator of the show likes to say we are “bringing our loaves and fishes to the table and then God does the miracle”. And God has certainly done miracles with this show.’
Roumie did not hesitate when he was approached for the show.
‘I needed a job so that was what motivated my saying yes to the show initially.’
As well as the practical considerations of realising that it would the most television episodes on a single show that he’d ever experienced at that point, Roumie, however, had other more personal and altruistic reasons.
‘This offered an opportunity to step into a role that I played before for this director and so I trusted him. I knew it would be fairly enjoyable, if not at times challenging, experience.’
It was the opportunity to play Jesus, however, that was the biggest drawcard.
‘It was a role that deepened my sense of connectedness to Jesus. It was an opportunity to spend more time with him, thinking about him and it was a prayer of sorts as I get to meditate on the role. So, there was no hesitation whatsoever.’
AUTHENTICITY AND HUMOUR
The Chosen’s approach is to portray the lives of Jesus and friends in realistically human way. There are marital and financial troubles, people dealing with the Roman occupiers and the questions of collaboration or friendship.
‘I think what has really beguiled people is the notion of the authenticity of the human experience that Jesus must have had on this earth and what his relationships with his disciples could have looked like,’ Roumie said.
‘It is the relatability that people find kind of surprising because I think people forget that they were real people.’
Roumie said Jesus and his friends lived together for three years on the road, getting to know each other but of course getting on each other’s nerves.
‘It’s all plausible. It’s all part of the human experience. They were imperfect, yet he chose them to be his core team, to bring his message to the ends of the earth. Over two millennia they fulfilled their mission and their apostolate.’
SECRET SAUCE
Roumie believes these real-life depictions have been the ‘secret sauce’ of the series’ success.
‘People have got to see these characters sort of plucked from paintings or stained-glass windows and dimensionalised in a way that they can relate to themselves, and see themselves in, especially in their flaws and foibles and follies,’ Roumie said.
‘I think that that’s kind of what has made this show so appealing to so many people. Seeing Jesus’ humanity in that context has really appealed to people and endeared him to them in a way that they weren’t expecting.’
Season five was a tough season to film, and the toughest of all the seasons so far, Roumie said. ‘But I think this will be possibly the most impactful season thus far, and one of the most profoundly beautiful ones.’
He said most of his favourite scenes at this point are from the unreleased fifth season which covers the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane.
‘We approached those scenes in ways that have never really been tackled before.’
FAVOURITE SCENE
Having to pick a favourite scene from the seasons that have been released, he chose a particular moment from season four where Jesus is in prayer a distance from the olive press being worked by Mary Magdalene and Zebedee, James and John’s father.
‘There’s this parallel of knowing that Jesus himself is going to be squeezed in the garden of olives and Gethsemane. And Gaius (a Roman) sees that Jesus is in a bit of an emotional state and he goes and gives him a hug at the end of that episode and it kind of gets me every time.’
Roumie said it’s not anything that people may have pictured before but for him it speaks of authenticity in its humanity.
‘God needs a hug too from time to time. As a human being it’s part of our DNA to give love, to receive love and he was receiving love in that moment from a very unlikely figure in our story.’
He attributes the success and appeal of the show to these many glimpses of Jesus’ humanity.
‘The Spirit allowed all of that to happen and has done it in spades. We’re just grateful we get to tell this story.’
Michele Frankeni is editor of Australian Catholics. She believes all good movies will have been better books first, and most of her conversations will be peppered with the phrase ‘I read somewhere recently’.