Roumie: 2 atheists became Christians after seeing ‘The Chosen’

Actor Jonathan Roumie says two lifelong atheists decided to embrace the Christian faith after watching “The Chosen,” which led them to become interested in the Bible, start attending church, and, ultimately, convert to Christianity.”

Jonathan Roumie, the actor well-known for playing Jesus Christ in the popular series, appeared on “The View” on Monday, where he was asked by co-host Sunny Hostin to elaborate on “some of the stories” of “people who feel like the show personally affected them and changed their lives.”

Roumie responded by recalling what he discovered while randomly searching through his direct messages on Instagram over the past few weeks. 

“I pick two different people and both of these people that wrote to me happen to have been lifelong atheists and never had any interest in God, and then somehow somebody sent them the show and all of a sudden, it’s like that first episode just kind of grabs hold of you,” he said.

Roumie insisted that “if God wants to,” He will “find you, He’ll follow you, He’ll go after you.” 

“Through the process of the show, they became interested in the Bible, and then they started going to the church, and they had both converted to Christianity,” he added, describing this development as “remarkable.” 

Roumie also shared some details about his first meeting with Pope Leo XIV over the summer, characterizing the new pontiff as “absolutely wonderful” and “as congenial and charming as he looks in all his interviews.” He praised the opportunity to meet the pope as “such a treat.” 

The actor said Leo told him, “My brother watches your show all the time,” but admitted, “I have to confess, I haven’t seen it yet.” This prompted Roumie to joke, “I can’t help you with that, your Holiness, that’s your job.” The pontiff vowed, “I’ll get there” when it comes to watching “The Chosen,” while Roumie assured him, “Don’t worry, we brought some DVDs.” 

When discussing the forthcoming sixth season of “The Chosen,” slated to air at the end of next year, Roumie revealed that filming the latest season of the TV series documenting the crucifixion of Jesus was one of the “hardest things” he has ever had to do.

“I think, as an actor, you’re always looking for truth in a character and to be able to find that and to play a character authentically. You have to enter into whatever that character’s truth in the story is, and for Jesus, it becomes doubly intense because I’m now trying to enter into the truth of what it meant to go through torture and crucifixion,” he said. “It’s not just the physicality of recreating that, it’s the emotional impact that that has. It’s the mental, the psychological impact of entering into Christ’s crucifixion and His torture.” 

Roumie added, “I asked God to allow me some sense of what that would be like, and He didn’t disappoint.” When asked if he could “play that role if you weren’t as spiritual and religious as you are,” Roumie responded, “I don’t think it would have the same kind of authenticity.”

“I think what I bring to the role is my relationship to Christ, my relationship with Jesus and my love for Him. And so, by taking on His love for humanity and trying to recreate that, it’s made me a better person; it’s made me want to love people.” 

Actor Jonathan Roumie says two lifelong atheists decided to embrace the Christian faith after watching “The Chosen,” which led them to become interested in the Bible, start attending church, and, ultimately, convert to Christianity.”

Jonathan Roumie, the actor well-known for playing Jesus Christ in the popular series, appeared on “The View” on Monday, where he was asked by co-host Sunny Hostin to elaborate on “some of the stories” of “people who feel like the show personally affected them and changed their lives.”

Roumie responded by recalling what he discovered while randomly searching through his direct messages on Instagram over the past few weeks. 

“I pick two different people and both of these people that wrote to me happen to have been lifelong atheists and never had any interest in God, and then somehow somebody sent them the show and all of a sudden, it’s like that first episode just kind of grabs hold of you,” he said.

Roumie insisted that “if God wants to,” He will “find you, He’ll follow you, He’ll go after you.” 

“Through the process of the show, they became interested in the Bible, and then they started going to the church, and they had both converted to Christianity,” he added, describing this development as “remarkable.” 

Roumie also shared some details about his first meeting with Pope Leo XIV over the summer, characterizing the new pontiff as “absolutely wonderful” and “as congenial and charming as he looks in all his interviews.” He praised the opportunity to meet the pope as “such a treat.” 

The actor said Leo told him, “My brother watches your show all the time,” but admitted, “I have to confess, I haven’t seen it yet.” This prompted Roumie to joke, “I can’t help you with that, your Holiness, that’s your job.” The pontiff vowed, “I’ll get there” when it comes to watching “The Chosen,” while Roumie assured him, “Don’t worry, we brought some DVDs.” 

When discussing the forthcoming sixth season of “The Chosen,” slated to air at the end of next year, Roumie revealed that filming the latest season of the TV series documenting the crucifixion of Jesus was one of the “hardest things” he has ever had to do.

“I think, as an actor, you’re always looking for truth in a character and to be able to find that and to play a character authentically. You have to enter into whatever that character’s truth in the story is, and for Jesus, it becomes doubly intense because I’m now trying to enter into the truth of what it meant to go through torture and crucifixion,” he said. “It’s not just the physicality of recreating that, it’s the emotional impact that that has. It’s the mental, the psychological impact of entering into Christ’s crucifixion and His torture.” 

Roumie added, “I asked God to allow me some sense of what that would be like, and He didn’t disappoint.” When asked if he could “play that role if you weren’t as spiritual and religious as you are,” Roumie responded, “I don’t think it would have the same kind of authenticity.”

“I think what I bring to the role is my relationship to Christ, my relationship with Jesus and my love for Him. And so, by taking on His love for humanity and trying to recreate that, it’s made me a better person; it’s made me want to love people.”