Jonathan Roumie Opens Up About the Price of Playing Jesus and His Unlikely Drummer Past

Jonathan Roumie has carried the role of Jesus in The Chosen for almost a decade, and in a new CCM Magazine cover story he’s getting honest about the cost. Filming the Season 6 crucifixion left him weeping in church, and he described the experience as“an element of PTSD that is very, very real.”To separate himself from everything people project onto him, he shaves his beard and cuts his hair after every season. Filming the resurrection in Season 7, he says, helped Jonathan reemerge.

His résumé outside of acting is just as surprising. Before The Chosen, Roumie was a drummer who played CBGB’s, right up until his record label went bankrupt and a planned tour fell apart. His second act is even bigger: on November 29 he narrates the Christmas and Advent story at Carnegie Hall with Matt Maher, a full orchestra and a choir. Meanwhile, Songs Inspired by The Chosen brings together Phil Wickham, Lady A, Boyz II Men, Tyler Hubbard and others, all writing in response to the series.

Season 6 premieres November 15 on Prime Video, so there’s plenty to talk about before then. Which part of Roumie’s story surprised you most, the PTSD honesty or the punk-club past?