It is hard for Jonathan Roumie to believe a show that started as a passion project has transformed into a cultural phenomenon.
The 50-year-old actor, who plays Jesus in the well-beloved series The Chosen, says that when he first signed on to the historical drama five seasons ago, he hardly expected the show to become what it has, with 280 million viewers. “When I initially did four episodes of this crowdfunded show that nobody thought would go anywhere, it was an opportunity just to put this story out there,” Roumie tells PEOPLE.
Once the show “took off,” Roumie seized the opportunity. “It was kind of like, ‘Okay, I don’t know what’s going to happen or how this is going to work, but all I know is that this is an opportunity that I get to spend more time with a character and a person that I love and has changed my own life and makes me want to be the best version of myself on a daily basis,’” the actor explains.
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This isn’t Roumie’s first time portraying Jesus. “I think God gave me a lot of practice runs at it,” the Jesus Revolution actor shares. “I’ve done three short films with The Chosen creator Dallas Jenkins, staged a passion play at my local church and even as an 11 or 12-year-old, I built a life-size cross in my backyard and reenacted the Jesus of Nazareth miniseries. It didn’t dawn on me that that might be unusual for a child, but to me, it just seemed like this is how I got closer to Jesus. So it kind of felt like this has always been part of the plan for me.”
His time on The Chosen has deeply impacted Roumie and his personal relationship with Jesus. “Spending so much time with Jesus and thinking about Jesus and reading his words in order to be able to play him is something that you cannot avoid, the impact that that’s going to have on you as a person,” he says.
According to Roumie, his portrayal of Jesus has had a deep impact on others, too. “The reactions have been profound,” he tells PEOPLE. “I just met somebody whose friend was suffering from anxiety to the point where they stopped driving, they didn’t leave their house, they didn’t go out, and as they started watching the show, something started to change within them and their faith grew and this lady started going out of her house again, and now she’s driving again, and she credits that to this impact that it’s had on her faith.”
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The fifth season of The Chosen marks Holy Week, which culminates in Jesus’s arrest before his crucifixion— a time Roumie describes as “deep and emotional” for him. “It is becoming harder to talk about the end because the end is near in reality and the story,” he says, getting emotional.
Roumie adds, “Death is inevitable. Jesus’ resurrection is inevitable, but the loss is inevitable. And so for me as an actor and as a person, to think of the fact that this soon will be over is pretty emotional. So for me, this feels like a final stand.”
The Chosen: Last Supper will be released in three parts – Part 1 (episodes 1-2), Part 2 (episodes 3, 4, 5), and Part 3 (episodes 6, 7, 8). Part 1 is now available in select theaters nationwide.
