‘The Chosen’ Star Jonathan Roumie on the Pressure of Playing Jesus and How the ‘Little Show That Could’ Became a Global Phenomenon

One of the most popular TV shows in the world is The chosen one, the first-ever multi-season series about the life of Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples.

Based on the Bible, the series is set primarily in Judea and Galilee in the first century. Its creators claim that more than 200 million people have seen at least one episode of the series on streaming services, in theaters or on television.

The show was initially crowdfunded and is now streaming on its own app that uses a pay-as-you-go model so viewers can help fund it to make it free for others. The show’s fourth season premieres September 1 on The CW.

Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus, spoke to Yahoo Entertainment about how the series changed his life, how it’s different from other Bible adaptations, and how it’s been received by audiences.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you decide to take on this role?

I needed a job! That’s what it came down to. I was at the lowest point in my life. I had no food and everything. I started praying and surrendering everything to God. Three months later, I got the show and it changed my life. I was already in a relationship with Dallas Jenkins, the creator of The chosen one, Four years ago, he cast me as Jesus in these short films for his church. That’s how our relationship began. We tried to create a little TV series that was crowdfunded at the time for four episodes, and here we are four seasons later about to premiere on the CW. The whole world now knows about our little show that could work.

People have donated on crowdfunding sites so others can watch the show for free. Does knowing that fans are so passionate about helping “The Chosen” reach a wider audience influence how you feel about your work?

We have a foundation called Come and See that allows us to see out all seven seasons, God willing, and that will allow us to receive larger and larger donations that are tax deductible. That’s not the motivation, but it has allowed us to maintain the integrity of the story because we’re giving people what they want. They want to make sure that the story gets to its conclusion and that the mission continues even beyond that. It’s allowed us to be completely independent of Hollywood and anything that would prevent us from telling the story the way we know it needs to be told.

What do you think Hollywood would change in this story?

It’s hard to predict and thankfully we don’t have to. I think what I’ve been missing in Hollywood adaptations of Bible stories in recent years is the spiritual substance and authenticity. When you’re making this kind of show, what makes it successful is the level of authenticity that the people making it bring to the work. If you don’t have that, the show can’t attract people and resonate with them in the same way. I think it’s because we’re always striving to be authentic and to convey the real spiritual truths of Jesus’ message. That’s the secret sauce.

I’m sure you get this question all the time, but how do you prepare to play Jesus?

Prayer. That’s the first thing I do. I pray a lot, a lot before every season, before every scene, and before every take. I always say a silent prayer to myself and pray for God’s guidance, for his voice to be heard through mine and for his words to be felt through the words that I’ve been assigned to say in the script, and for everything that happens as a result of the show. People have these deep conversations, or they go from believing to not believing in something, or they just want to know more about Jesus. All of that, that supernatural stuff, is out of our hands. Our responsibility is to show up, to be open, and to tell the story authentically and truthfully. God does the rest.

Knowing how Jesus’ story ends, does that affect how you portray him in each season?

There is an urgency. As we get closer to the end of the story, it starts to creep into my consciousness. I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it in the first four seasons. My goal is to be present and focused on what we’re talking about now, to be with the disciples in these situations. If I let my mind wander, I’m not present with them. We just finished shooting Season 5, and the story is changing. Season 4 takes place over several months, and Season 5 takes place over a week. Season 6 will take place over a single day, which is just 24 hours. So in Season 5, I had to really acknowledge and integrate into my talks what is inevitable for Jesus.

Why do you think it is one of the most watched shows in the world?

The message of Jesus is timeless and his truth speaks to all of humanity. Sometimes it’s a hard truth to hear, but it’s true. Whether you acknowledge it or not or accept it, it doesn’t change. I think presenting the message in this way is accessible. The characters and Jesus are relatable—they’re like people you’d see in your neighborhood or community. They’re laughing, crying, and confused, just like we are. No one has ever portrayed these characters with this much humanity before. No one has had the luxury of taking the time to build these characters over multiple seasons. We’re doing something that no one has ever done before. They’ve never shown Jesus and his disciples at a party, dancing at a wedding, drinking wine, enjoying each other’s company, getting angry at each other, getting upset at each other—all of the things that humans go through.

Were there any reactions to the show that particularly struck you?

I was at an event recently where there was a young girl in the audience who had a medical condition. She was about 12 or 13 years old and that morning she had just buried her little sister who had the same condition. All the girl wanted to do that day was come and listen to me speak because she loves the show so much, so I arranged for her to come backstage so I could visit her. I couldn’t imagine the level of grief that she and her family must be going through. If the show can be a kind of balm for someone’s wounds, then it was all worth it. Even if I never did anything else for the rest of my career, that moment was worth it.

The Chosen One Season 4 premieres September 1 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.