Jonathan Roumie will never forget how he felt when his acting career hit rock bottom in 2018. “I had booked some little shows here or there, but I’d struggled for eight years,” recalls the Long Island, New York, native, who got his start doing voices for MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch.

“I was out of money, out of food and out of options.” So the longtime devout Catholic got on his knees and prayed for guidance from God. That day, he received residual checks for $1,100, and three months later, creator Dallas Jenkins cast him as Jesus in The Chosen. “It’s all been pretty divinely inspired,” says Jonathan, 50. “It’s the role of a lifetime.” Here, he talks to In Touch’s Katie Bruno about his faith and his future.

What would you be doing now if you hadn’t landed this part?

JR: Something that God knew would inspire me. I’d played Jesus four times in little projects, and when I got cast [in The Chosen], it was clear that it had all been a practice run. I had to be tried by fire in order to be prepared. It’s hard to think of what else might’ve transpired. I’m sure it would’ve been awesome, but this takes the cake.

Which Season 5 scenes were hardest to film?

JR: The Last Supper. I want people to feel like they come away with a deeper understanding of what that evening was and what it meant. Trying to incorporate the level of anxiety and suffering while getting to a point of resolve and acceptance felt like a very delicate arc to travel.

Are you all able to keep the mood light on set?

JR: We have to maintain a sense of levity because it is so heavy. I may not get the opportunity to participate in as many set pranks as others because I usually have a lot more dialogue, but there’s always an opportunity to crack a joke. Dallas and I have been at this for years and we keep each other laughing. He’s extremely funny and I take shots at him as well.

How are you preparing to film the Crucifixion for Season 6?

JR: I’m eating a lot of doughnuts! It’s going to be very, very sad, so I’m pre-emotional eating. No, I’m actually dropping weight as we speak. I have to look the part on the cross.

That will be tough to film.

JR: Yeah. It’s going to be hard for everybody. I know from talking to people that they are dreading seeing Jesus go through [that]. There are people who have been spiritually affected and whose lives have changed as a result of encountering Jesus through this TV show, and they are going to be tremendously impacted.

Is it true you reenacted it as a child?

JR: I was about 11 or 12, and I was so impacted by this miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth, that it led me to build my own life-size crucifix. I restaged it complete with a crown of thorns and sliding my hand through nails that I’d hammered and painting blood. I can’t explain why I did it other than I wanted to connect to Jesus in that very intimate yet tragic way. It became a premonition for what [would] happen 30-something years later.

What’s next for you?

JR: In another two years, this will be finished, and that’s going to be a massive change. I don’t know what’s going to happen when it ends, but I trust that it’s going to be something better than I could ever imagine. That’s just how God’s been working in my life.