The Chosen star Jonathan Roumie is calling on more celebrities to openly discuss their personal relationships with religion.
“People in the public eye — for better and sometimes for worse — carry a lot of impact and a lot of weight in the culture, and when we’re talking about promoting things like prayer in the culture at a time in this world when everything seems kind of crazy and noisy and chaotic — we need people whose voices are recognizable and whose voices are trusted,” Roumie, 52, exclusively told Us on Thursday, November 12, while discussing Hallow’s Advent Pray25 Challenge for 2026, launching on Monday, November 30.
“As a celebrity, that’s a responsibility,” the actor continued. “People are watching the things you do and following you and following your story and taking notes. I think as responsible artists, when we are doing things like praying on the Hallow app and praying with this Advent challenge for days at a time … Next thing you know, their hearts are opened and their spirits are, for many, just set on fire with what it means to have a relationship with Jesus and kind of get this grounding from a life of prayer that, sadly, so many people today are missing.”
Like Roumie, a slew of Hollywood celebrities — Chris Pratt, Gwen Stefani and Mark Wahlberg, among others — have used and promoted Harlow, a Christian-based prayer app that offers guided meditations and prayers for users looking to grow in their faith.
While the rise of white Christian nationalism has come under scrutiny as of late — experts believe a rise in the movement coupled with the erosion of separation of church and state is one of the biggest threats to U.S. democracy — studies suggest more people, in particular young people, are turning to organized religion as a way to better understand themselves and the world.
Jonathan Roumie Getty Images
According to the annual PRRI Censure of American Religion, 66 percent of Americans identify as Christians, while roughly 28 percent do not consider themselves to be religiously unaffiliated. According to the Barna research group, most Gen Z teens are interested in learning more about the Christian Jesus, while their younger counterparts are leading the way in the growth of new religious commitments.
“We need hope right now,” Roumie told Us on Thursday of people’s draw to organized religion. “Being able to lead prayer on the Hallow app, for me, is something that I’ve derived so much hope from myself.”
While Roumie believes more celebrities should speak openly about their faith journeys, he sees the trends and realizes that more people are also hungry for faith-based entertainment that honors their personal beliefs.
Several of Hollywood’s biggest stars have opened up about their ups and downs growing up in the Mormon church. Katherine Heigl’s family converted to the religion after her brother, Jason, died in 1986 of injuries suffered in a car accident. “Both my parents felt a great desire for answers, and they found an answer in […]
“I think it’s much more in the mainstream now than it ever has been,” Roumie says of Christian programming. “I think that is a direct response to what people are searching for, to what people are seeking. … I think people for a long time have been sort of starved of this kind of entertainment, and for me, I never thought I would be working in entertainment that functions on a spiritual level before.”
He added, “But I knew that if I was going to do it, the most important thing that I had to be sure of was that there was a level of quality to it — like, artistically the bar has to be set high. It has to be as high as anything that’s made in Hollywood or anywhere else for that matter. So it’s really up to us to be able to set that bar and shape the way things are seen and viewed and experienced, and offer people something more.”
