The Weight of the Cross: Jonathan Roumie Explores the Ultimate Sacrifice in Season 6 of 'The Chosen'
Jonathan Romie in a scene from Season Six of 'The Chosen' | Photo image courtesy 5&2 Studios, Prime Video
For actor Jonathan Roumie, portraying Jesus Christ in The Chosen has been a journey of profound spiritual depth and emotional intensity.
In Season Six of the acclaimed streaming series premiering this Sunday on Prime Video, the story enters its most heartbreaking chapter, chronicling the final 24 hours of Jesus’ life—from His arrest and trial to His crucifixion.
Told through the perspectives of His devoted followers, His accusers, and the Roman authorities, the season brings viewers face-to-face with the events that changed history.
For Roumie, inhabiting the role has been an especially personal experience, anguishing at times, as he has immersed himself in the suffering, sacrifice, and humanity of Jesus.
I recently sat down with Roumie to discuss the emotional demands of bringing this pivotal chapter to life and the profound impact of portraying history’s most sacrificial and enduring figure.
In Season Six, Jesus knows exactly what awaits Him, yet He remains resolute in His mission. How did you approach portraying the tension between His divine understanding of what must happen and the very human anguish of facing suffering and death?
For me, the choice, especially in the middle of the scenes, was quite simply just to listen to what was being said and to react to the people saying it. I tried to allow the cameras to see how I felt about what they were saying and who was saying it. And yet maintaining that divine authority underneath the entirety of His trials and even through His way of the Cross, and carrying the Cross. It starts to become a little more overshadowed by the physical pain that is brought in with the beginning of the scourging and the beating and all this other stuff. Then, ultimately the crucifixion itself. But in the moments where He does speak, His authority is never lost. It's always there. It never wavers. It's just greatly impacted physically from the pain and suffering of crucifixion. But it’s always there.
Obviously, the crucifixion was the most emotionally or physically challenging scene to film in Season Six. Was there a particular moment when the reality of what you were portraying became especially overwhelming?
Every step of the crucifixion was overwhelming on some level. After many different scenes, whether it's the crowning or nailing or being raised up onto the Cross, for many takes I would just be weeping after them. We would cut because it was just awful. It was horrendous.
After portraying Jesus through so many seasons, did preparing for the crucifixion change your relationship with the character or deepen your understanding of His sacrifice in ways you had not previously experienced?
That's exactly right. Experiencing and portraying the crucifixion fundamentally changed my understanding of suffering, of what redemptive suffering means and how to offer up my own suffering in union with Christ's suffering so that it may offer grace in the process of that suffering. Whatever I'm going through, whatever anyone's going through. I think the key to making it useful and salvific in effect is by offering it up to Him. And then it becomes like, okay, now it's got positive benefits to it, we have to go through it anyway, where there's no avoiding suffering in this life. God did not spare His only son, so what do we do with our moments of suffering?
Millions of viewers have developed a personal connection with your portrayal of Jesus. As audiences approach the crucifixion, what do you hope they will understand about the love behind His willingness to endure the Cross?
That ultimately Jesus Christ was and is the supreme example of sacrificial love. I think it's easy to misunderstand Christ or the values of Christianity if you don't truly examine the life and death that He lived and died on behalf of humanity. If you study His life and you study His death and you study everything that He said, you cannot be unchanged by it after experiencing it.
Season Six of the acclaimed streaming series premieres this Sunday on Prime Video.
WATCH A TRAILER FOR SEASON SIX OF THE CHOSEN:
