‘The Chosen’ Star Says Role Brought Him Closer to God

The Chosen, Angel Studios’ religious drama series about the life of Jesus Christ, is the most successful crowdfunded series of all time. It’s become a massive hit outside of the traditional Hollywood system, with episode screenings filling up movie theaters across the country (Part 1 of Season 4 hits theaters on Feb. 1).

There are many reasons why The Chosen has become such a phenomenon, but Jonathan Roumie’s complex and humanizing portrayal of Jesus is a big one.

Roumie is a devout Catholic who is open about his faith. He even has a social media partnership with a rosary company. Roumie told The Messenger that his faith has opened up unexpected opportunities for him in the entertainment industry, including releasing a documentary series about his life and career called Jonathan and Jesus.

“In it, you get to see exactly what it’s like for me to go through this process,” he said. The documentary shows conversations he got to have with religious leaders, including getting to meet Pope Francis.

“[The Chosen has] afforded me such great opportunities,” he said. “And I just I just feel so very blessed to get to do this for a few more years at least.”

He’s not worried about being typecast, or if being vocal about his faith could affect his opportunities in Hollywood. “I kind of gave up any concern I had about any of that stuff years ago, before I booked The Chosen actually, like three months before I kind of surrendered everything, my career, my expectations of how my life was going to go,” he said.

“And once I did that, once I completely surrendered, that’s when things started to actually happen. So as far as I’m concerned, as a man of faith, everything is mapped out by God and it’s up to me to follow His lead and find my way through it, and it’s worked out pretty well so far.”

Roumie says that playing the role of Jesus has helped him feel closer to God. “The more time you spend with Jesus, the more you improve your life,” he said. “So having gotten to spend so much time and prayer and studying in His words and His example, it’s hopefully made me a better person.”

The Chosen Season 4 will premiere only in theaters on Feb. 1. Prior seasons are available to stream on Netflix, Prime Video and Peacock.

Original Article