The actor who plays Jesus on being religious while in Hollywood
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The actor who plays Jesus in “The Chosen” went on the podcast “The Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott” to talk about Christian entertainment in Hollywood.
“The Chosen” is a historical drama and an Angel Original series about the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, who is played by actor Jonathan Roumie. Roumie has also starred in the movie “Jesus Revolution,” which is about the Jesus Movement of the 1960’s and 70’s.
When Roumie is not on set filming, he is also something of a “Christian influencer,” as Gideon Jacobs described him in The New Yorker. He partners with the prayer app Hallow and with an Italian jewelry company named Ghirelli, known for selling rosaries.
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On the podcast with Scott, Roumie opened up more about his faith and what it’s been like for him to be openly Roman Catholic while in Hollywood.
“I’ve had people at one time or another, even people on my team, that were like ‘Hey, you might want to downplay your faith,’ ... and I didn’t quite get that,” Roumie told Scott.
For Roumie, he said his faith is “so much apart of who I am and my life that I have no problem talking to anybody about it.”
The pair also discussed what’s happening right now in Hollywood with Christian entertainment. Scott brought on Paul Bond as well to talk about his article published in Newsweek, “‘Sound of Freedom’ Reveals Rising Power of Jesus in Hollywood.”
A large part of Bond’s article was devoted to analyzing the success of “The Chosen” and looking at how other faith-based projects are in the works. Bond mentioned Martin Scorsese’s announcement from earlier this year about how he is making a film about Jesus as well Netflix’s announcement about creating more faith-based content.
“There has been a dramatic increase lately in films that portray the faith and its followers sympathetically,” Bond wrote for Newsweek. “According to Movieguide, the total percentage of movies with “positive Christian/redemptive content” has soared from 10 percent in 1991 to 59 percent in 2022, although that figure includes films with inspirational or family-friendly messaging deemed consistent with Christian values—offerings as diverse as Top Gun: Maverick and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 make the grade—along with overtly faith-based content.”
Roumie’s performances as itinerant preacher Lonnie Frisbee in “Jesus Revolution” and Jesus in “The Chosen” were discussed in the article.
When Scott asked Roumie what he thought made “The Chosen” a successful show — more successful than some other faith-based content — Roumie said he thought it had to do with quality. While some productions prioritized “the message” and were not as focused on the art of moviemaking, “The Chosen” kept storytelling at the forefront.
“It’d be better to have a good film that has, let’s say in our case, Christians themes versus a Christian film first and then whether or not it’s good comes secondarily,” Roumie said.
To listen to the rest of Roumie’s interview with Scott, check out the podcast here.
Season Four of “The Chosen” will be released in January or February 2024.
