Jonathan Roumie Shares Deep Conversation With Russell Brand

“The Chosen” star Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus Christ in the iconic series, sat down with comedian Russell Brand on his podcast in June … and boy, was it beautiful.

“One of the things, I think, as humans, that we need, especially if we have a relationship with our Creator, or we desire a relationship with our Creator, it’s only human for us to want to put a face to who that is. And so, what do we have?” Roumie told Brand, his friend. “We have the relegations of culture, and paintings and imagery. … People have been trying to depict our Lord and Savior because that gives us an opportunity to reference what it is and who it is that we’re putting our belief system into.

“I think we need to have a face (image of Jesus). And in the age of film and television and social media and popular culture … Robert Powell was that for the two of us. … Even now, you still see images of Robert Powell’s face as Jesus Christ,” Roumie continued, nodding to the actor cast as Jesus in “Jesus of Nazareth.” (LEARN MORE: Russell Brand Baptized In River Thames)

“We were promoting season four (of ‘The Chosen’) in Mexico earlier this year, and I was in a church in rural Mexico, and I went in and there was a depiction of this scene with a particular religious person, like a priest or someone from the region, or it was a saint, and he’s in this painting with Jesus, and the image they used for Jesus’ face is Robert Powell. I think it’s the more saturated we are with certain kinds of images, whether it be my face, whether it be Jim Caviezel’s face, whether it be Robert Powell’s face, inevitably, your mind just naturally wants to go there. Because you’re like, ‘Oh, no, no, He was a person.’”

Seeing His Face

Roumie noted that his sister also had a moment where she struggled with picturing him as Jesus while praying. “It actually happened to my sister. My sister said she was praying once in church, and all of a sudden, my face popped into her prayers and she’s like, ‘No, no, get out of there,” he explained. (LEARN MORE: Actor Dennis Quaid Credits God For Helping Him Through Addiction)

“And for me, obviously, I’m not thinking of myself. But you know, if it’s not Robert Powell, I get images of Renaissance paintings that come into my head, you know, or something by Carl Bloch will just pop into my head. And he’s one of my favorite artists who depicted Christ. And so, I want to have somebody to think of, to imagine because He’s a real person. Jesus was a real person. He continues to be a real person.” (LEARN MORE: ‘The Chosen’ Reveals Hidden Secrets Within The Show)

How To Watch ‘The Chosen’

You can watch all four seasons of “The Chosen” on the official app, available on all devices.