Jonathan Roumie Reflects On Playing Jesus In ‘The Chosen: The Last Supper'

Forbes

28-03-2025

Jonathan Roumie in "The Chosen."
Courtesy of The Chosen
Jonathan Roumie reprises his role as Jesus in The Chosen: The Last Supper, the highly anticipated fifth season of the popular faith-based series. With the first two episodes now on the big screen, Season 5 marks the beginning of the end as the show moves into Holy Week.
Filmed in Dallas, Texas, the new season brings Roumie into some of the most iconic and spiritually weighty moments of Jesus' life—from the cleansing of the temple to the Last Supper. I sat down with Roumie on set last July, where he reflected on the challenges of portraying such sacred events, the emotional toll of the role, and what this means to him as both an actor and a man of faith.
Playing Jesus has been the 'greatest honor and challenge' of his life and career, he told me just after celebrating his 50th birthday. After receiving creator Dallas Jenkins' script for Season 5, now officially titled The Chosen: The Last Supper, he said he was both blown away by what was proposed and daunted by the emotional weight of it all.
At the time of our conversation, he had two major weeks of filming left, including the Last Supper and another pivotal moment that fans will discover later.
'I'm preparing rigorously for those scenes. But it's really hard to describe the variety of feelings—I'm overwhelmed approaching them, because they're just so loaded with meaning and substance, and an emotional connection, familiarity, and tradition for so many people,' he explained. 'So I'm trying to do my best to surrender it all to God and let Him guide me where He's always guided me for this series, and know that it'll all work out.'
One powerful scene viewers will witness in The Chosen: The Last Supper—prior to the crucifixion—shows Jesus entering the temple and flipping over the tables of the buyers, sellers, and money changers.
'Jesus says a lot of things, and a lot of it is the culmination of this relationship—this climax between himself and the Pharisees," he explained. "The rebukes that he gives, the sorrow he feels, not just for the disciples, who still fail to recognize what he's telling them is going to happen at the end of Holy Week, but also the sorrow in seeing these Pharisees and authorities misleading in many ways.'
Roumie continued, 'The people that they are meant to govern and spiritually shepherd, in service to their own needs, in service to their selfishness and their greed in many cases, and that becomes the tipping point, especially when it comes to the temple court marketplace, which catalyzes this, the beginning of this monstrous scene that we cover, where the temple is basically all but destroyed. The marketplaces are just completely upended. It will be a wonderfully chaotic scene, and I can't wait for people to see it.'
Cast members have described the fifth season of the Christian series to me as chaotic (in the best way), but Roumie said that he would categorize The Chosen: The Last Supper as simply 'intense.' All eight episodes, which will roll out in theaters before arriving on Prime Video in June, cover the entirety of Holy Week, including the Last Supper.
For Roumie, filming the Last Supper was one of the toughest scenes, given how personally meaningful it is to his faith. 'The Last Supper means so much, very specifically to me and my faith,' he said. Another challenging event he filmed was a key moment leading up to Jesus' crucifixion (which I'll keep under wraps for now to avoid spoilers).
When it came time to film those spiritually significant moments, he admitted he didn't 'quite know how either of those was going to go,' but said he was 'trusting it to God.'
The success of The Chosen has undoubtedly changed Roumie's life. His Prime Video series, Jonathan and Jesus, follows the actor on a journey through Rome and Paris, where he meets fans, fellow celebrities—including Pope Francis—and opens up about how he's navigating his rising worldwide fame.
The docuseries also details how, after decades of pursuing acting, he finally got his big break with The Chosen. When the New York native first joined the project eight years ago, he had no idea the faith-based series would grow into the worldwide phenomenon it is today.
'I think you never really have a concept of what it's gonna look like. I mean, you hope for an idea of success and know that, 'Okay, we're just telling a really great story.' And if we can get some success out of this, and I can pay my bills consistently, that would be amazing. To have achieved that has been beyond my wildest imagination."
Now, with only two seasons left before The Chosen wraps up with Season 7, Roumie is focused on staying present and soaking it all in.
'I'm trying to stay as present as I can throughout all of it, knowing it'll soon be over. I've lived with the character for now six years," he said. 'I don't know what it's going to be like when I'm not doing it. Life will be probably quite different.'
The first two episodes of The Chosen: The Last Supper are now in theaters. Check out the Season 5 theatrical release schedule here.