Jonathan Roumie Explains Why He Wears Skull Rings Almost Every Day

The actor the world knows as Jesus wears skulls on his hands almost every day. Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in The Chosen, held up his rings to the camera in a short video and explained, in his own words, why a reminder of death has become a daily companion for him.

Roumie explained the rings in an Instagram reel on 26 October 2026, as reported by ChurchLeaders, and the explanation is worth hearing in full because it is easy to misunderstand from a photograph alone. The rings are part of the ancient Christian practice of memento mori, Latin for remember that you will die, and Roumie wears them, he said, almost every day. In the reel he held up four silver-coloured rings on his left hand, three of them with skulls, and three more rings on his right hand, one with a skull, as well as a necklace pendant.

People notice the rings, and Roumie knows they notice them. He said people think it is strange that he wants a constant reminder of death, and then he answered that reaction directly, with a calmness that suggests he has given the same answer before. His point was not about fashion, or about shock value, but about how a person spends a limited life.

People think it's strange that I want a constant reminder of death. Honestly, though, we are all called to remember that our time here on this earth in this life is limited and that we're all called to be saints.

That sentence carries the whole of his explanation, and it reframes the skulls completely. They are not there to frighten, or to impress, but to remind him of a calling he shares with every believer, and time is limited, so the reminder is meant to shape how each day is used.

These skulls remind me to spend energy on the right things each day. And so I've carried this devotion with me for a really long time.

He added that the practice is not to be morbid or to fixate on death. It is, he said, to remember that his time in this life is limited, and that the rings remind him to spend his energy on the right things each day.

Jonathan Roumie Skull Rings: Memento Mori and the Call to Be Saints

Memento mori is an ancient practice. The Latin phrase means remember that you will die, and Roumie described the skulls as a way of keeping life in perspective.

For an actor who spends his working days portraying Jesus, the rings also carry a quiet irony that he did not need to point out. The man audiences see as Christ on screen wears, off screen, a reminder that he is mortal, limited, and called to holiness like anyone else. The reel does not make a grand claim about that contrast, and this article does not either, but the contrast is there for anyone watching closely, and it gives the explanation its warmth.

Roumie is a practising Catholic and a partner with Hallow, the Catholic prayer and meditation app. He is leading Hallow's seven-day Memento Mori Prayer Challenge, which began on Monday 26 October, with Hallow guide Anna, and the challenge works through C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce.

What if the choices you make today are shaping your eternity?

Hallow's challenge page showed 47.1K praying at the time of the research for this story, and that figure is recorded here as the figure shown on Hallow's page at that time, not as a verified count of people who completed the challenge.

The Chosen Season 6: Jonathan Roumie, Hallow Prayer Challenge and What Comes Next

The cast and crew recently wrapped filming on Season 7, the last season of the series, according to ChurchLeaders, and five seasons are out so far. Season 6 releases on Prime Video on 15 November, as reported.

Readers who want more on Roumie's faith in his own words can find it in the report on Jonathan Roumie's faith in 2026 and what The Chosen's Jesus would do if Christ returned tonight, and the music connected with the series is set out in the album of songs inspired by The Chosen, featuring Phil Wickham, Lady A, and Boyz II Men.

The wider picture of young and adult faith in Europe is also part of the context, including the report of France recording more than 13,000 adult baptisms as Pope Leo visited Paris, and the Gen Z Catholic revival story, in which the Vatican urged caution as France baptisms jumped 26 percent.

What is striking about Roumie's explanation is how ordinary it sounds once he has given it. A man wears rings, people ask about them, and he tells them the rings remind him to use his time well, in a habit separate from his work on screen. The skulls are not a costume, and Roumie says he has carried the devotion with him for a really long time, which means the reel was a glimpse of a habit, not the start of one.

Jonathan Roumie Memento Mori: A Daily Reminder to Spend Energy Well

The challenge that began on 26 October runs for seven days, and it works through C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce.

For viewers who found the skulls strange at first, the reel may have changed the picture. A reminder of death, explained this way, becomes a reminder of life, and of the call to spend energy on the right things while there is still time to spend it.

Roumie will be back on screen as Jesus when Season 6 arrives on 15 November. Will the prayer challenge, and the quiet habit behind it, change how his audience thinks about their own days, and will the skulls that looked strange at first come to look like the simplest reminder of all, that time is short and the right things are worth the energy?

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.