‘The Chosen’ wins K-LOVE Film Impact award for season 4: 'Without Him, I am nothing'
The fourth season of "The Chosen," the multi-season crowdfunded series about the life of Jesus Christ, won the 2024 Film Impact award at the 11th annual K-LOVE Fan Awards.
Jesus actor Jonathan Roumie, his co-star Elizabeth Tabish (Mary Magdalene) and series creator and director Dallas Jenkins accepted the awards on behalf of the cast and crew during the ceremony broadcast on Saturday. Season four of "The Chosen" premiered in theaters nationwide in February and was released to streaming last weekend.
In addition to the series' impact award, a documentary series featuring Roumie earned a "golden 'K'" in the first-ever TV/Streaming Impact bracket. The docu-series “Jonathan & Jesus” began streaming on Amazon Prime. In the show, Roumie explores Jesus's impact on the world, visits historic sites and speaks with various Christian figures about how Jesus changed their lives.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Speaking with the press, Roumie was asked how he has remained humble despite his career successes. While the multi-season crowdfunded series about the life of Jesus Christ has amassed over 520 million episode views worldwide, Roumie said he'll never forget his humble beginnings and facing financial struggles that made it hard for him to make ends meet.
"Jesus is the ultimate. And if I'm trying to model my life after Him, He was the supreme example of humility," the 49-year-old Catholic actor said.
"You look at the cross. There's no one that was more humble than He was. And so I have to remember that everything that I have is because of Him — everything that I went through was to get to this point where I surrendered to Him. And as a result, He's taken me out of the pit and put me here with you guys and [director] Dallas [Jenkins] and [actress] Liz [Tabish] and an incredible place," Roumie continued.
"I pinch myself every day. Words cannot really adequately describe how I feel, but all of it goes back to Him. And without Him, I am nothing."
Roumie expressed gratitude for the people God crossed his path with, whom he might not have otherwise known if he hadn't received the leading role in "The Chosen."
"I work for somebody like Dallas — he keeps me pretty humble," he joked.
Jenkins recalled that he was going through a difficult season in his own life before the launch of "The Chosen." The series launched right after Jenkins's film, "The Resurrection of Gavin Stone," flopped at the box office.
"All three of us, genuinely, in the months leading up to season one of the show ... were probably in some of the darkest places of our lives, and that's been true of a lot of the cast who came to the show," Jenkins told the media.
"Many of us have embraced that we're not worthy, and that we're surrendered and humbled — and may that never change."
Roumie shared with The Christian Post in a previous interview that success hasn't come without difficulties, opening up about the unique challenges presented by being an actor so deeply associated with such a significant religious figure.
He said people have told him that they see his eyes when praying to Jesus, a revelation he said is somewhat disturbing.
"It's not really my job to control what they think or how they react; the only thing I can do is remind them that I'm not Jesus. I'm Jonathan. I'm a person," Roumie said. "I'm just a dude. I'm playing this role, and I have a deep, deep, deep devotion to Christ. I think letting people kind of see behind the curtain helps clarify that distinction and that separation and hopefully will give people a better understanding of what the challenges that I have."
Roumie said he hopes to always put God first and surrender to Him no matter the circumstance, as "The Chosen" continues to grow in success.
"I tend to do a lot of praying, kind of like when Jesus was overwhelmed and at the end of a long day, He would go off by Himself and go on a boat or just go up to a mountain and talk to the Father," Roumie told CP. "I find myself doing that often."
"If I were to believe any of the hype that anybody might write or believe or let any of the compliments go to my head, then I'm in dangerous territory," Roumie added.
"As long as I stay in prayer and connected to my faith, it allows me the vehicle to be able to stay surrendered to God."
"The Chosen" is slated for seven seasons and is free to watch through its mobile app.
Nicole VanDyke is a reporter for The Christian Post.
