‘This Will Stay With Me Forever’—Jonathan Roumie Tells Father Mike Schmitz Portraying Jesus’ Crucifixion Left Him ‘Raw’

Portraying Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion in “The Chosen” Season 6 has changed actor Jonathan Roumie forever. Roumie joined Father Mike Schmitz, host of “The Bible in a Year” podcast, to discuss the impact the experience has had on Roumie’s life and how events from his childhood helped prepare him for the most challenging role there is.

“If I’m fortunate enough as an artist to be remembered for anything in my life, it will be this,” said Roumie. “It will outlive me, God willing. And I think the impact that it’s having on people goes beyond just media or entertainment consumption.”

“If I never did anything else again in entertainment, I would be sad, but I would be content knowing that I said yes to this,” he continued, “this very, very intense, long mission. It’ll be 10 years by the time it’s all released from the time I started. And I will feel like, ‘Ok, I’ve done something with my life as an artist.’” 

“I might not have won Academy Awards or worked with directors that I’ve adored since I was a kid,” Roumie said, “but none of that matters now because I’ve seen the other side…how [this kind of storytelling] can literally change people’s lives.”

Jonathan Roumie: ‘Everything in My Life Has Prepared Me for This Role’

Jonathan Roumie is a devout Catholic who has gained widespread acclaim for his portrayal of Jesus on the TV series “The Chosen.” The cast and crew recently concluded filming Season 6 of the series, which takes place over the day of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. 

Father Mike Schmitz is a nationally known Catholic priest of the Diocese of Duluth and a campus chaplain at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He hosts Ascension’s hit podcast “The Bible in a Year,” which is currently ranked No. 1 in Apple Podcasts’ Religion & Spirituality category, a position it has held multiple times. 

Roumie and Schmitz said that they have been in contact with each other for years but had only just met in person for the first time. Schmitz noted that “The Bible in a Year” could be the “most important thing I’ve ever done in my life” and asked Roumie about the weight of playing the role of Jesus Christ.

Roumie compared the impact of playing Jesus to the impact Schmitz’s ministry has had on people’s lives. “They go from non-belief to belief. They go from not being active in the sacraments to all of a sudden going to confession and going to mass and taking communion again,” Roumie said. “That’s the difference between life and death, spiritual life and death…there’s nothing that’s going to be more important for me than affecting an individual’s relationship with their Creator. It trumps everything.”

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“Once, you know, you’ve somehow been a touchpoint for that person’s journey, it’s like…what else matters in my work as an artist?” the actor asked. “Nothing. Nothing does. Awards don’t. Money doesn’t. Nothing comes close.”