Jonathan Roumie (born July 1, 1974) is an American actor best known for his role as Jesus in The Chosen, a crowd-funded television series about the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. He is also a voice artist.
Early life
Roumie's father was a first-generation born in Egypt of Syro-Lebanese origin, and his mother is Irish. In the Ottoman Empire, many Lebanese emigrants were classified as Syrian due to Mount Lebanon being a state in Ottoman Syria. The name ‘Roumie’ originates from Lebanon, specifically the town of Roumieh. Therefore, with the migration of Syro-Lebanese to Egypt, it is historically associated with Roumie having Lebanese origins.
Before meeting in New York City, Roumie's mother was raised on a farm in Ireland and his father was raised in Cairo, Egypt. Roumie is a practicing Catholic; while he was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, Roumie converted to Roman Catholicism after moving from New York to its suburbs. He holds a degree in film from the School of Visual Arts.
After graduating from college, Roumie played drums in his friend’s contemporary rock band. The band had recorded an album and were due to go on tour but the recording company sponsoring the tour went bankrupt. Shortly after Roumie moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television.
Career
Roumie has appeared in television shows such as The Good Wife, As the World Turns, and Castle. He played the character of Christ for the first time in a touring multi-media project about the life of St. Faustina called Faustina: Messenger of Divine Mercy and subsequently in 'Once we were Slaves/The Two Thieves'. Roumie is also the co-producer, co-director and lead actor of The Last Days: The Passion and Death of Jesus, a live performance about the passion of Christ. He portrayed evangelist Lonnie Frisbee in the 2023 film Jesus Revolution.
Roumie's voice-over work includes the video games Evolve, Mafia II & III, and The Darkness II. He has voiced several characters in the MTV series Celebrity Deathmatch.
Roumie started as a production assistant and was the location scout for Spider Man, National Treasure and I Am Legend. His first original song, "Outta Time", was released in Europe for the album Unbreakable, which he co-produced.
At one time, Roumie was involved in an entertainment fellowship for Christian entertainment professionals.
He also serves as a narrator for the Catholic prayer app Hallow.
The Chosen
Right before Roumie was offered the opportunity to play the role of Jesus Christ, Roumie had reached the point on his journey where he surrendered his life to God, he says; "I was literally in a pit and God sort of lent a hand and brought me out of the pit. I was broke. I was in debt. I had enough food for the day to last a day."
Now known for his portrayal of Jesus Christ in The Chosen, Roumie has been featured in the National Catholic Register, America Magazine,The Atlantic, and The Irish Times.
Regarding the challenges of portraying Jesus Christ, Roumie said, "Very often, I don’t feel worthy of playing Jesus. I struggle with that a lot. But I also acknowledge what God has done for my life as a result of playing Christ and how God has changed my life."
Personal life
Roumie has been a ministry leader and has served as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion within the Catholic Church. He is a strong advocate of the sacraments, ecumenism, humility and charity. He serves on the board of Catholics in Media Associates. In 2020, he was nominated for a Papal knighthood, the Order of St. Gregory the Great. He was also named one of Aleteia's "10 Catholics who restored our faith in humanity" in 2021 and made it onto Our Sunday Visitor's list of Catholics of the Year in 2022. He opposes abortion. Roumie has been a keynote speaker at March For Life.
As of 2022, Roumie was residing in Los Angeles.
Roumie can be found hosting live prayers on Instagram, some of which have been viewed nearly 100,000 times. He prays the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy.
Roumie is a talented illustrator, and won a few awards in high school for this work.