James Patrick Caviezel was born on September 26, 1968 in Mount Vernon, Washington is a movie actor with a wide variety of film roles. He is often credited as Jim Caviezel. He was one of five children born to Jim and Maggie Caviezel. The Caviezels were an close knit Catholic family. As a youngster, Jim was described as being "very intense". His two main interests growing up were sports and religion. He was athletically gifted on the basketball court and dreamed of someday playing in the NBA. He also learned the importance of Christianity at a very young age, attending Church regularly with his family. In 1984, he went to Mount Vernon High School but transferred to O'Dea High School after two years. The following spring, he transferred again to Burien Kennedy High School in Seattle where he starred on the basketball team until graduating in 1987. While at O'Dea and Kennedy, he stayed with family friends. Following high school, Jim enrolled at Bellevue Community College where he played on the basketball team. A foot injury in his sophomore season put an end to Jim's basketball career and his dreams of playing in the NBA. Shortly after his, he turned his focus toward acting. In 1990, he auditioned for a part in the independent film My Own Private Idaho (1991). He won a very small role as a foreign airline clerk after he told casting agents that was a recent Italian immigrant. The following year, Jim moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a waiter between auditions. He landed small roles in Diggstown (1992) and Wyatt Earp (1994) and guest starring roles on "The Wonder Years" (1988) and "Murder, She Wrote" (1984). He continued to go relatively unnoticed in small roles and even thought about quitting acting until 1998 when he received critical recognition for his role as idealist Private Witt in The Thin Red Line (1998). The following year, he gained further recognition with roles in Ride with the Devil (1999/I) and Frequency (2000). In 2001, his role as Jennifer Lopez's love interest in Angel Eyes (2001) helped to establish him as a versatile actor and leading man. It was until 2002 when Jim began to make his strong religious beliefs known. While filming High Crimes (2002), he refused to do any love scenes with on-screen wife Ashley Judd because it conflicted with his strong Catholic beliefs. It was also around this time where he was chosen by Mel Gibson to star as Jesus Christ in the upcoming, controversial film The Passion of the Christ (2004). The film went on to become one of the high grossing movies of all-time and made Jim a household name.
Off screen, Jim lives with his wife, Kerri, a school teacher whom he met on a blind date in 1993 and married in 1997. Writes left-handed, but seems to be ambidextrous (uses both hands) and is 6' 2" (1.88 m) tall.
In 2004, he took the role of Jesus in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ".
Dad is Jim, Mom is Maggie. Has 3 sisters-Ann, Amy, Erin 1 brother-Tim. His surname is Romansch (Rhaeto-Romanic), from Switzerland. Met his wife, Kerri, on a blind date in 1993. She is a high school English teacher. Played basketball in college, but took up acting after injuring his foot. Drove the pace car in the Indy 500 Race in May of 2002. Refused to film a love scene with on-screen wife Ashley Judd for their film, High Crimes (2002). The idea of possible nudity conflicted with Jim's personal beliefs, based on his strong Catholic faith. Dislocated his shoulder during the filming of The Passion of the Christ (2004). Received an honorary degree from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA at their commencement on 18 May 2003. Gave a fire-and-brimstone speech based on his interpretation of Catholicism. Was struck by lightning during the filming of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004). Assistant director Jan Michelini was also hit (for the second time during the shoot). A crew member said "I'm about a hundred feet away from them when I glance over and see smoke coming out of Caviezel's ears." Shortly after accepting the role of Jesus Christ in the Mel Gibson film, The Passion of the Christ (2004), he realized his initials were the same as that of Jesus (J.C.) and that he was the same age most historians and religious scholars claim Jesus was when he was killed (33).
He has made public speeches at religious venues since the release of Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ. On March 19, 2005 he was the main speaker at the first Boston Catholic Men's Conference. Caviezel stated that he only chose to speak at the conference because he liked Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley.
He is a fan of the Minnesota Vikings. He is married to Kerri, a teacher, who is also Roman Catholic and who supports a charity for single women with children. James Caviezel is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
Personal quotes
"My mom's 100% Irish, and in my family we've always called acting 'blarney'."
On getting thumped for being too cocky at basket ball in Junior School, he says: "It hurt, but I said to myself I'm never going to be like that again. I was blessed to learn that early in life."
Filmography
Last updated: 05-21-2005 15:06:58
