Jonathan Roumie says filming Jesus crucifixion changed his faith journey

Actor Jonathan Rummy spoke about the arduous process of filming the crucifixion for season six of The Chosen, at this year’s ChosenCon, revealing how following in Jesus’ footsteps during his final hours left a lasting mark on his life and faith.

“It was a unique experience,” Romey told Fox News Digital at a fan event in Charlotte, North Carolina, this month. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, both professionally and personally as a human being.”

Rumi depicts Jesus in the plague Drama based on faithdepicts the events of Palm Sunday and Holy Week in the fifth season, which was released last year. The highly anticipated sixth season, which will be released in the fall, focuses on Christ’s arrest, trial, and crucifixion as depicted in the Gospels.

For Rumi, A devout CatholicFilming these moments took a huge physical, emotional and spiritual toll.

“The Chosen” actor Jonathan Rummy talks to Fox News Digital about portraying Jesus in upcoming seasons of the religious show. (Fox News Digital)

To prepare for the role, he said he asked God to let him experience just a hint of what Jesus experienced on the cross to authentically bring the pages of the Bible to life.

“I’ve spent a lot of time asking the Lord to show me what He wants people to see and what He wants them to experience, and if it’s possible for me to try to experience a portion of a portion of what He went through,” Romy said. “I was willing to present myself in that way, and it gave me some really challenging experiences on set, both physically and emotionally.”

On the first day of filming, Romy suffered a painful shoulder injury after falling.

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Jesus and his disciples walk at night in a scene from the fifth season of the series “The Chosen One.” (Courtesy of Studios 5&2)

“Oh, this is the shoulder on which I will carry the cross. Well, you get my message,” Rumi joked during a conversation with the father. Mike Schmitz At ChosenCon.

He added that another scene led to a head injury that left him with “cervical problems” for several months afterward.

Rumi explained how he offered this pain to God and prayed that it would touch others and be used for the glory of God.

“I could do less… and give all the pain and suffering,” Romy told Schmitz. “What we do is we bring it to the altar of sacrifice and say, Lord, if you can use this for souls… I offer this pain and suffering… My goal throughout this has been to offer this for the benefit of souls and people who are suffering, and so that it happens, it can be sanctified and used for the glory of God.”

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Director Dallas Jenkins and actor Jonathan Rummy on the set of The Chosen. (5&2 studios)

The intensity of production extended far beyond Rumi himself. He described the entire cast as becoming “trauma-related” through the emotional weight of the crucifixion scenes, noting that the experience seemed akin to “post-traumatic stress disorder.”

“It’s still affecting me in ways I didn’t expect,” he admitted.

Al-Rumi currently available Partnering with actors Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt on the Hallow prayer app’s Lent challenge, telling Fox News Digital that this Easter looks different than any before it after filming the movie Passion.

“I think there is a lot more of the Christ experience in my consciousness than I have now in this season,” he said. “It will probably be an intense Holy Week for me… the first Holy Week I will experience since the re-creation of the Passion. That has been a very intense experience for me, one that I am still processing… Everything that I experience and go through, I offer to the Lord.”

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Jonathan Rummy portrays Jesus in the TV series “The Chosen One.” (5&2 studios)

Despite the bleakness of the scenes he depicts, Rumi’s ultimate goal is to point viewers toward the character of God.

He told Fox News Digital that he wants people to walk away from his depiction knowing that Jesus is not uninterested in their lives but loves them deeply and wants a relationship with them.

“He is accessible to people, and everything he went through, he went through on behalf of all of humanity, and ultimately it is love at its core, forgiveness, compassion, and compassion,” Rumi said. “So I think if people have an idea of ​​him as this, just this judge or this, you know, impartial God, that’s completely wrong. It’s the opposite of that. He’s just nothing Love and compassionHe deserves to know him because your life will only be better by knowing him deeply.”

Romy’s passion for this role is rooted in a personal “rock bottom” moment that occurred a few months before he was cast. Before “The Chosen,” the actor was struggling to find work, facing a negative balance on his checking account and a life spiraling into chaos.

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Actor Jonathan Romey attends the premiere of The Chosen – Season 3 on Netflix at Le Grand Rex on October 6, 2023 in Paris, France. (Mark Piasecki/WireImage)

Things turned around when he surrendered his struggle to God.

“I knelt down and prayed,” Rumi In 2024, Fox News Digital said. “I said, ‘Look, God, I’m giving you everything. If you want this to work, you’re going to have to help me figure out a way to survive, and find food for tomorrow. And I’m not going to have to worry about this anymore.'”

He describes this as the moment he finally stopped trying to control his destiny.

“The important point is that I committed to not controlling it anymore,” he explained. “And when I did that, I think that’s the thing that changed for me. My life, from that moment on, was never the same as it was before.”

About three months after surrendering to God, Rumi was cast as Jesus Christ in a role that reached at least 250 million viewers worldwide.

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Fox News’ Alba Cuevas-Fantauzzi and Kristin Rosell contributed to this report.

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