Actor who plays Jesus on TV show to meet Pope Leo

A U.S. actor known for playing Jesus on the popular television show The Chosen has visited the Vatican.

Jonathan Roumie, star of the streaming series about the life of Jesus Christ, spoke at an event ahead of a special Vatican screening of an episode from the fifth season of the show, which will be released internationally in July.

Roumie was joined by his co-stars, including Elizabeth Tabish, who portrays Mary Magdalene; George Xanthis, who plays St. John the Apostle; and Vanessa Benavente, who plays Mary, the Mother of God.

"Coming to the Vatican is always an honour," said Roumie, a practising Christian.

"The possibility of getting to meet the newest pontiff is extraordinary."

The Chosen is a historical drama that follows the life of Jesus Christ, from gathering disciples to his ultimate persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire.

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Season 5 includes Jesus's last supper with his disciples and many of the renowned biblical events just before his death.

The cast came to the Vatican a day after wrapping up three weeks of shooting for the sixth season of the show, which will portray the crucifixion, an episode filmed in the southern Italian town of Matera.

One of the world's oldest continuous human settlements, with stone houses cut from surrounding cliffs, some of which have been occupied for millennia, Matera stood in for Jerusalem.

U.S. filmmaker Mel Gibson also used the Italian town for his 2004 movie about the crucifixion, The Passion of the Christ.

Roumie and the other cast members are set to meet Leo, the first U.S. pontiff, during the pope's general audience in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday.

The show’s creator, Dallas Jenkins, originally financed the pilot of The Chosen through crowdfunding in 2017. While its success saw it move to Amazon Prime Video, the show continues to be supplemented by crowdfunding and the nonprofit, Come and See Foundation.

The series will come to an end with its seventh season, focused on Jesus' resurrection.