Jonathan Roumie

Jonathan Roumie (born July 1, 1974) is an American actor best known for his role as Jesus in The Chosen, a crowd-funded television series about the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. He is also a voice artist. Early life Roumie's father was a first-generation born in Egypt of Syro-Lebanese origin, and his mother is Irish. In the Ottoman Empire, many Lebanese emigrants were classified as Syrian due to Mount Lebanon being a state in Ottoman Syria. The name ‘Roumie’ originates from Lebanon, specifically the town of Roumieh. Therefore, with the migration of Syro-Lebanese to Egypt, it is historically associated with Roumie having Lebanese origins. Before meeting in New York City, Roumie's mother was raised on a farm in Ireland and his father was raised in Cairo, Egypt. Roumie is a practicing Catholic; while he was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, Roumie converted to Roman Catholicism after moving from New York to its suburbs. He holds a degree in film from the School of Visual Arts. 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 on tour but the recording company sponsoring the tour went bankrupt. Shortly after Roumie moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television.