Jim Caviezel was a popular and very talented actor of the early 2000 era. He had given films like Angel Eyes, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Frequency. The actor was appreciated for his unpretentiousness and quiet charm. He became widely popular for a role in Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ, however, the film had a major impact on his career.
Caviezel once shared in an interview on his casting for the role of Christ, despite the warning that taking the role may end his career.
Jim Caviezel on his casting in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ
G.I. Jane actor played the remarkable role of Jesus Christ in the film The Passion of the Christ. The film was a box office success and grossed more than $600 million. The actor shared in an interview that he was approached for the role by Hollywood actor-producer Mel Gibson. At the time, he had already earned fame with movies like Angel Eyes and The Count of Monte Cristo.
The actor shared that he knew about Mel Gibson but did not know about his producer Steve Mcaveety. He added,
“They invited me to a film, I think it was Tom Hanks and Mel Gibson, we are going to do this together. It was on Mavericks. We were talking about the movie, I don’t think the script was there yet. Then all of a sudden, Mel pivot to something, and I said, ‘Oh my God, you want me to play Jesus, don’t you?’ He looked at me and said yeah, and put his head down.”
The actor shared that a few days later, Mel Gibson called him to prevent him from taking up the role. He recalled,
“The day after I accepted the role, I got a phone call from Mel. He said, ‘Hi, this is Mel.’ ‘Mel who?’ For some reason, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise — that’s how I know them. I don’t know them by just first name. He said, ‘Hey, Jim, this is Mel.’ He started talking about this movie and started talking me out of the role. He said, ‘I want you to be aware of what you are going to go through. You may never work again.’”
However Jim Caviezel still accepted the role and told him,
“Mel, this is what I believe. We all have a cross to carry. I have to carry my own cross. If we don’t carry our crosses, we are going to be crushed under the weight of it. So let’s go and do it. It is eerie. My initials are J.C. and I am 33 years old.’”
The film also featured Maia Morgenstern as Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene.
Jim Caviezel felt shunned by the industry due to The Passion of the Christ
He played the role of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s film, due to which his acting career was impacted. He was isolated by the industry and was hardly offered any role, despite the massive success of the film. Gibson had tried to warn Caviezel of probable discrimination and typecasting that Caviezel might face after the film.
Talking about the impact of the film, he shared,
“I made a choice. What you find out is that some choices are viewed as evil, and I don’t see it that way. If there was a comedy out there, I would do it, but after playing Jesus, you don’t really get offers like that anymore. As soon as I did Passion, other film offers stopped coming in.”
After his iconic role in The Passion of the Christ, Caviezel played a professional golfer Bobby Jones in the independently-released biographical film Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius. Late he appeared in the high-budget action science-fiction thriller film Déjà vu. The actor played a prominent role in the 2023 film Sound of Freedom.
Also read- “Like an acid trip”: Mel Gibson’s $612M Passion of the Christ Sequel Will Show Other Dimensions
Source- Youtube
