Russell Brand and ‘The Chosen’ Star Jonathan Roumie Discuss the Power of Portraying Jesus

Actor and comedian Russell Brand recently interviewed actor Jonathan Roumie, best known for playing Jesus Christ in the hit series The Chosen, where Roumie addressed what it means to him to take on the role of the Son of God. The interview, which was posted on Brand’s Locals page, touched on their time together on the set of The Ballers, in which Roumie played Brand’s body double, Roumie’s role as Jesus in The Chosen, and how it has impacted his relationship with Christ.  

“The Chosen has galvanized the Christian Community like no other rendering of the gospels,” Brand said, pointing to other actors who played Jesus, such as Robert Powell, Willem Dafoe, and Jim Caviezel.

Brand also pointed to how “impossible” it is to play Jesus, particularly in capturing His humanity and divinity. He commended Roumie for his work and noted that some people, including himself, see his face when they pray. 

When asked about the challenges of taking on the role of Christ, Roumie shared how it’s natural for humans to want to put a face on the Messiah.

“If we have a relationship with our Creator, if we desire a relationship with our Creator, it’s only human for us to want to put a face to who that is,” Roumie explained.

“Since Jesus lived, people have been trying to depict our Lord and Savior because that gives us an opportunity to kind of reference what it is and who it is that we’re putting our belief system in, so I think we need to have a face,” he added, particularly in the age of film, television, social media, and popular culture. 

Roumie, a professing Catholic, also spoke about how he grew closer to Jesus after taking on the Messianic role. 

“A lot of the increased methods of my own personal practice and prayer life have been a direct result of spending more time with Jesus as a character in a TV show, whom I’m playing, whom I’m portraying,” he said, adding that it would not have happened prior to taking on the role six years ago. 

He shared how Robert Powel’s portrayal of Christ in Jesus of Nazareth impacted him so much as a kid that he reenacted the crucifixion.

“It’s hard not to kind of look at this as sort of manifest destiny that God has a plan that in which I can now bring, for this very specific time and age, the precepts and the concepts of the faith and the necessity of the importance of having a relationship with Christ and having the spirituality to an audience on a global scale desperately needs something to anchor themselves into.”

“My preparation begins with prayer,” he added.” It begins with Mass, confession, Eucharist, and a kind of spirituality cleaning myself out so I can be a greater, a cleaner, sort of a mirror if you will. It’s like wiping a dirty mirror and just saying, ‘Okay, God, You reflect off of me the things that You want the world to see, the qualities that You want people to feel from Jesus’ portrayal in the show, and let me be a mirror to what You want people to experience.”

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Frederick M. Brown/Shane Anthony Sinclair/Stringer

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.

Originally published June 24, 2024.

: Follow topic Follow this topic

Sign up to start following Log in

Follow author Follow this author

Sign up to start following Log in

Sign up to start saving Log in