'Made Me Want to Be More Like Jesus': For Jonathan Roumie, The Chosen Season 5 Hits Deeper

Season 5 of the wildly popular series "The Chosen" hits theaters Friday. This season opens the Bible to focus on the final week of Jesus' life on earth. Jonathan Roumie plays the role of Jesus in the series and described the biblical story's arc to CBN News.

"Steamroller. Bulldozer. Intensity. A melee of emotions and conflicts. Climax of conflicts between Jesus and the authorities," Roumie said.

"Climactic frustrations between Jesus and His disciples – their inability to get what He is telling them within days of it happening. It will be the most beautiful, the most complex, most intense season we have ever done," he continued.

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The beauty of the story, complexity, and intensity includes Jesus' betrayal. Actor Luke Dimyan plays Judas and talked about his role.

"I grew up very familiar and having read the Bible, and even at a very young age, I was curious and always questioning why the hate on this guy who obviously felt so bad for what he did. The thing that we hate him for, that he sadly committed suicide and that never just sat right with the kind of blind distaste we had for him. Because whenever I read that story, I just saw a missed opportunity to have the biggest redemption arc and to lose that, that's a tragedy to me. That's not someone to hate. That's someone to mourn," he told CBN News.

The production this season has grown and actor Shahar Isaac, who plays Simon Peter, sees a striking difference this season on the sound stage.

"I think what's funny about it that everything on the surface is gigantic and bigger and more everything on the surface. The sets are bigger, there's more people. We were in Utah three weeks with 600 people every day. Everything grows. The spirit and the heart is the same. But yes, of course the sets are huge and there's a lot of people and the show has grown. But I dunno. I love that we are still in the same," Isaac said. 

Paras Patel, who plays Matthew, and Elizabeth Tabish, who plays Mary Magdalene, describe their feelings as the overall series will soon end in a few years. 
   
"I've been sad, to be honest, just because we're just so close and connected and we are a big family here, so I'm not going to lie, I've been a bit emotional this season," Patel told CBN News.
     
"It's really mixed feelings. I don't think I really expected it to happen so quickly. Thought maybe over the course of many years, we'll get to season seven, but I've been so surprised by how quickly it's grown and that's allowed us to make the seasons faster. So, it's just, at first it was this sort of slow, gradual growth and now it feels like it's sped up and it feels like it's going away," Tabish said.

For Patel and Tabish, portraying the roles of Matthew and Mary Magdalene is personal.
   
"I've learned, it's actually made me more confident. I've learned a lot about myself, and I give that full credit to the writers, the showrunners, just giving Matthew this kind of personality, body, and depth," Patel said.
    
"When I first booked the role, I was very similar to the Lilith version of Mary. I really connected to that. I was going through a depression. I was struggling with a lot of pain and anxieties," Tabish said. 

"So, over the course of these years, I feel like I've been allowed to change and grow alongside Mary. She's sort of been like this guide of showing me the path to a fulfilling and joyful life," she continued.  Finding personal joy in Jesus' story is a running theme on and off the screen. A theme that resonates with Jonathan Roumie.

"It's changed my relationship with God in that it has deepened profoundly and made me want to be more like Jesus in my day to day life, and not just to play Him. One of the things that keeps hitting me is you don't have to play Jesus on TV to be Jesus to the world. And I think that is what we are all called to do as believers," Roumie said.

Season 5 of "The Chosen" will roll out in 3 theatrical releases. The first is this Friday, March 28th. Part 2 is in theaters April 4th, and the 3rd installment is in theaters April 11th.

MORE: Iconic Artwork from 'The Chosen' Takes Over Times Square as Big Season 5 Dates Revealed