Tom Pelphrey is not the first actor to play Jesus. But he may be the first one to admit he almost said no because the role felt too sacred to touch.
Pelphrey - best known to mainstream audiences as the Emmy-nominated star of Ozark and HBO's Task - voiced Jesus Christ earlier this year in The Christ, a four-part audio drama from Faith Podcast Network that released during Holy Week. The production features David Oyelowo as Pontius Pilate, Paul Walter Hauser as John the Baptist, Patricia Heaton as host, and John Rhys-Davies as narrator. It was billed as the first full-scale audio dramatization of Jesus' life with cinematic-quality sound and a cast of more than 100 characters.
When the offer came, Pelphrey's first reaction wasn't excitement. It was something closer to fear.
"I was intimidated in a way that I don't often get with work," he told USA Today. "I was like, 'Wow, I would love to do that!' And then the next thought was, 'Oh no. I can't do that.'"
So he prayed about it. And then he said yes.
That decision makes more sense when you know where Pelphrey comes from. He was raised Catholic in Howell Township, New Jersey, and remembers reading his red Study Bible as a boy. "I found a kind of solace in that," he said. "Reading that Bible, as a young boy, was the beginning of how I felt like I was developing a personal relationship with God."
That relationship deepened through struggle. In October 2025, Pelphrey marked 12 years of sobriety on Instagram with words that said everything about where his gratitude lands. "Sober by the grace of God," he wrote. "Deeply grateful for my sobriety and the life I get to live because of it." He and his fiancée, actress Kaley Cuoco, celebrated the baptism of their daughter Matilda in December 2025.
For a man carrying all of that - faith, sobriety, new fatherhood, a career finally breaking into the mainstream - stepping into the voice of Jesus wasn't a stunt. It was personal. "Just want to be of service," he said about taking the role.
The Christ is available now on all major podcast platforms and at TheChristPodcast.com.
