Jonathan Roumie

Jonathan Roumie

Early life

A first-generation American, Roumie's father was born in Egypt and is of Syro-Lebanese descent; his mother is from Ireland.[5][6][7] Roumie has stated that his great-grandparents on his father's side were Armenian.[8]

Before his parents moved to and later met in New York City, Roumie's mother was raised on a farm in Ireland with his father being raised in Cairo, Egypt.[9] Though he was baptized in the Orthodox Church, Roumie converted to Catholicism after moving from New York to its suburbs.[10] He holds a degree in film from the School of Visual Arts.[6] In 2024, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in fine arts by the Catholic University of America for his work evangelizing through his acting career.[11]

After graduating from college, Roumie played drums in his friend's contemporary rock band. The band had recorded an album and were due to go on tour but the recording company sponsoring the tour went bankrupt. Shortly after, Roumie moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television.[12]

Career

Roumie has appeared in television shows such as The Good Wife, As the World Turns, and Castle. He played the character of Christ for the first time in a touring multi-media project about the life of St. Faustina called Faustina: Messenger of Divine Mercy[13] and subsequently in 'Once we were Slaves/The Two Thieves'. Roumie is also the co-producer, co-director and lead actor of The Last Days: The Passion and Death of Jesus, a live performance about the passion of Christ.[14] He portrayed charismatic hippie evangelist Lonnie Frisbee in the 2023 film Jesus Revolution.[15]

Roumie's voice-over work includes the video games Evolve, Mafia II & III, The Darkness II and Fallout 4. He has voiced several characters in the MTV series Celebrity Deathmatch.[16]

Roumie started as a production assistant and was the location scout for Spider-Man, National Treasure and I Am Legend.[17] His first original song, "Outta Time", was released in Europe for the album Unbreakable, which he co-produced.[18][better source needed]

At one time, Roumie was involved in an entertainment fellowship for Christian entertainment professionals.[6]

He also serves as a narrator for the Catholic prayer app Hallow.[19] Jonathan Roumie appeared in the Super Bowl 2024 commercial for the app, causing a huge spike in downloads Hallow.[20]

Roumie is also a public speaker. He was a keynote speaker at March For Life.[21] He also was one of the revival session speakers at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress 2024[22] with over 55,000 participants in attendance.

Previous to being offered the role of Jesus Christ in 2017 for what was then a new television series, The Chosen, Roumie states he had reached a point on his life where he had completely surrendered himself to God. About that period of his life he says: "I was literally in a pit and God sort of lent a hand and brought me out of the pit. I was broke. I was in debt. I had enough food for the day to last a day."[23]

Now known worldwide for portraying Jesus in the series,[24] Roumie has been featured in numerous publications, including TV Guide, the National Catholic Register,[10] America Magazine,[25] and The Atlantic,[26] and The New Yorker.[27] He has also been interviewed on network television for shows such as The View,[28] Fox News,[29] EWTN,[29] and various religious-based news and information outlets.

Regarding the challenges of portraying Jesus, Roumie has said, "Very often, I don't feel worthy of playing Jesus. I struggle with that a lot. But I also acknowledge what God has done for my life as a result of playing Christ and how God has changed my life."[30]

Personal life

Roumie has been a ministry leader and has served as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion within the Catholic Church.[6] He is a strong advocate of the sacraments, ecumenism, humility, and charity.[31] He serves on the board of Catholics in Media Associates.[32] In 2020, he was nominated for a papal knighthood, the Order of St. Gregory the Great.[33] He was also named one of Aleteia's "10 Catholics who restored our faith in humanity" in 2021 and made it onto Our Sunday Visitor's list of Catholics of the Year in 2022.[34][32] He opposes abortion. A keynote speaker at the 2023 March for Life, Roumie told participants, "God is love, and true love gives way to life, not death."[35]

As of 2022, Roumie was residing in Los Angeles.[36]

Roumie can be found hosting live prayers on Instagram, some of which have been viewed nearly 100,000 times.[37] He prays the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy.[12]

Roumie is a talented illustrator, and won awards in high school for this work.[9]