Jonathan Roumie

Jonathan Roumie (; born July 1, 1974) is an American actor known for his role as Jesus in The Chosen, a crowd-funded television series about the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. In 2023, he portrayed evangelist Lonnie Frisbee in the film Jesus Revolution. He is also a voice artist and a public speaker.

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

Before his parents moved to and later met in New York City (where Roumie was born ), Roumie's mother was raised on a farm in Ireland with his father being raised in Cairo, Egypt. Though he was baptized in the Orthodox Church, Roumie converted to Catholicism after moving from New York to its suburbs. He holds a degree in film from the School of Visual Arts.

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.

Career Film and television Roumie started in the entertainment industry as production assistant and was the location scout for Spider-Man, National Treasure and I Am Legend. He also created music, and his first original song, "Outta Time", was released in Europe for the album Unbreakable, which he co-produced. He began seeking acting work and made his first appearance as a voice actor for the MTV series Celebrity Deathmatch. He eventually began landing minor roles on television series, including The Good Wife, As the World Turns, and Castle, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a full-time acting career.

Roumie met Dallas Jenkins, creator of The Chosen, in 2014 when Jenkins was the media director for a large church in Illinois and cast Roumie for the role of Jesus in a short film about the Two Thieves. 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 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.

After eight years in Los Angeles, Roumie was struggling to sustain his acting career and relied on government assistance payments, which eventually ran out. He woke up one morning completely broke. He recalls that during the crisis, "I didn't see any way out. So I literally said: 'God, you take this from me. It's in your hands now. I'm not going to worry about it.' Then, three months later, The Chosen comes along. I thought, OK, I just needed to submit." Roumie played Jesus in the pilot episode for The Chosen in 2017 and would become the star of the full series. Roumie has been featured in numerous publications, including TV Guide, the National Catholic Register, and The Atlantic, and The New Yorker. He has also been interviewed on network television for shows such as The View, Fox News, EWTN, A documentary miniseries titled Jonathan and Jesus depicted Roumie's personal story and the effect playing Jesus has had on his public image and personal life.

He portrayed charismatic hippie evangelist Lonnie Frisbee in the 2023 film Jesus Revolution. In 2026, he appeared in the romantic comedy film Solo Mio alongside actor Kevin James.

Other appearances Roumie has done voiceover work for various video games since very early in his career, such as Batman: Dark Tomorrow, Fallout 4 and Days Gone; his most notable role is as Dollman in Hideo Kojima's 2025 game Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. He also serves as a narrator for the Catholic prayer app Hallow. Roumie appeared in the Super Bowl 2024 commercial for the app, causing a huge spike in downloads of Hallow.

Roumie is also a public speaker. He was a keynote speaker at March For Life. He also was one of the revival session speakers at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress 2024 with over 55,000 participants in attendance. At one time, Roumie was involved in an entertainment fellowship for Christian entertainment professionals. He serves on the board of Catholics in Media Associates. 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.

As of 2022, Roumie was residing in Los Angeles. Roumie can be found hosting live prayers on Instagram, some of which have been viewed nearly 100,000 times. He prays the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. 2022 The Chosen, Episode 2.8 – "Beyond Mountains" 2023 The Chosen, Episode 3.3 – "Physician, Heal Yourself" 2024 GMA Dove Award TV Series of the Year Jonathan and Jesus (TV series) 2024

TV/Streaming Impact Jonathan and Jesus (TV series) 2025 Film Impact The Chosen, Season 5 (Theatrical Release) Filmography

Television

Film 2023 Jesus Revolution Lonnie Frisbee 2024 Heart of a Servant - Father Flanagan story|Voice Executive producer and narrator 2026 Solo Mio''Neil

Video games