jimgilkey

Jonathan Roumie notes:

Suburban public school life in NY
Had to decide on Fine Arts as an illustrator or Film

Sherrif Tinfoil
The wild chastity of

Started as a PA (production assistant)
Painted hip hop sets for music videos
Work in locations department for a film
Location Scout to location manager
Was a pretty good mimic, so decided on voice acting (Homer Simpson, the Godfather)
Celebrity death match - wrote them, got a letter back & got a return letter with a hotline
On camera commercial for VMAs
Realized his call for something bigger

I felt if God was bringing me to this place of trial to such a degree, I wasn’t sure if I heard His call the right way in the first place.

$20 left, 6-7 side gigs, but no work in 2-3 weeks, decided to pray

“If I heard you wrong, show me where I need to go. I turn it all over to you. I surrender.”

3 months later to the day, Dallas Jenkins called him to ask if he could

“The 2 thieves” short film by Dallas Jenkins for Good Friday - auditioned for the role of the penitent thief. Asked to re-audition for the role of Jesus (which was only 5 lines). Did 3 films over 4 years, which became the style of The Chosen.

The material is always going to be bigger than me

“The Chosen is so popular because we endeavor to explore the humanity of these individuals we see depicted as stained glass pictures.” -JR

It’s humbling when people approach (Jonathan). It’s not just a regular celebrity encounter. “Let me tell you what has happened in my life - my marriage is saved, I go to church again, I was Southern Baptist & started praying the rosary with you & now I’m in RCIA”

One of his favorite scenes (Season 3 episode 3): Jesus goes back to Nazareth & preaches in the temple & it doesn’t go so well & the drive him out of the temple & they take him to throw him off of the cliff”

The most impactful scene (Season 3, episode 2): Jeremy (Little James) always tried as an actor to hide his limp, but Dallas asked him if they could use that in the show.

“Are you fast? Do you look impressive when you walk? These are things that the Father does not care about.” -Jesus (The Chosen)

“We all struggle with something…with some sort of weakness. God can use all of our trials to achieve His will for us and all of those around us. It is important to remember to give thanks for our trials as well as our blessings because in our trials we are made stronger in Him” -Jonathan Roumie

The hardest scene to shoot was the walking on water. Context was they just saw the feeding of the 5,000 earlier in the day. This was shot in a giant tank in a wave pool in Louisiana (half of the size of this arena), standing on giant plastic plexiglass platforms with blue foam pads that float on the water where they had to surf.

Lonnie Frisbee hippie street preacher “everyone is just searching for God”

Have a really strong prayer life is a non-negotiable
Confession, the Sacraments, the Eucharist has to be non-negotiable
You have to have a relationship throughout every part of your life with Jesus - don’t just bring Him praise in your successes, bring Him your pains & struggles
It wasn’t until I surrendered everything that God said, “now you are ready for what I have prepared for you”
God has His eye on you always. He wants a relationship with you.