Jonathan Roumie

About

Jonathan Roumie (Arabic: جوناثان رومي; 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.

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. 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.
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…