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James Patrick Caviezel was born in Mount Vernon, Washington, on September 26,
1968. He has three sisters (Ann, Amy and Erin) and one brother (Tim). Jim grew up in a close-knit Catholic family. It's been
said the Caviezel's were in church every Sunday. Like many boys, Jim dreamed of playing a professional sport. Jim actually
wanted to be a pro basketball player, not an actor. Jim seems to come from an athletic family. I have read his father once
played basketball while he was in college. Jim played basketball in high school and college. His former high school basketball
coach said (to paraphrase) Jim was "the hardest worker I have seen in 30 years of coaching basketball". In 1984
through 1985, Jim attended Mount Vernon High School. It's been said that he couldn't get dates there because the girls
thought he was weird. In 1986, Jim transferred to O'Dea High School in Seattle, to play basketball. While he was in Seattle,
he lived with friends of his family. Jim transferred to Kennedy High School in 1987. He was voted "Prettiest Eyes". Jim also
graduated from Kennedy High School in 1987. For two years (1988-1990) Jim studied at Bellevue Community College, then transferred
to Washington. Jim's never pubically what his major was. Like Jim, Erin and Tim also played basketball in college. Tim was
even The Player of the Year at Washington State in the 1990's. Erin spent some time out from her college basketball career
due to a foot injury. Jim was playing basketball when he injured his foot. I have never heard exactly when he was hurt,
but Jim was probaly in his early twenties. Jim's dream of playing professional basketball was over, but his acting career
developed out of this.
While attending Bellevue Community College, Jim got his first acting role. It
was a dinner theater play called "Come Blow Your Horn". Then Jim moved to Los Angeles and worked as a waiter. In 1991, Jim
got his first major acting role in the movie "My Own Private Idaho". It starred Keanu Reeves and River Pheonix. Jim played
an airline clerk. He had convinced the casting agents that he was an Italian immigrant, and won the small role. In 1992, Jim
got another small role as Billy Hargrove in the boxing movie "Diggstown". Jim was also on an episode of "The Wonder Years".
His character was Bobby Riddell, and you guessed it, a basketball star. Jim also appeared on a few episodes of "Murder, She
Wrote".
In 1993, Jim went on a blind date at a mall, which was set up by one of his
sisters. This is when Jim met Kerri. Like, Jim, Kerri was a basketball star. Kerri is an English teacher, and she coaches
girls basketball.
In 1994, Jim was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. That year, Jim was also accepted
into Julliard, but he also won the part in a Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid movie, "Wyatt Earp". Jim was actually hoping
to be able to do both. But Jim said so long to Julliard, and accepted the role in "Wyatt Earp". In 1995, Jim appeared
in "Children of the Dust" (aka, Good Day to Die) as Dexter. This is when he appeared on the TV series, "Murder, She Wrote".
A year later in 1996, Jim met Sean Penn at auditions for "Hi Lo Country". Neither one of them got a role in the movie. If
Jim didn't get his big break soon, he was going to give it all up and do something else with his life. Jim got a breakthrough
appearance as Rear F-18 Pilot. You can't much of his face, but you can hear his voice. Also in 1996, he was in the baseball
movie "Ed" along with Matt LeBlanc. Jim's character was cut from the team, but they do show a few seconds of Jim in the shower
(shots are from the waist up).
In 1997, he got the part of 'Slov' Slovnik in "GI Jane", which stars Demi Moore.
Jim shaved his head for this movie (not his best look). Jim also did some modeling for Gap. Jim and Kerri are married in 1997
(I have never been able to find the exact date), five years after their blind date.
Jim got his big breakthrough in 1998! Thanks Terrance Malick. Jim got his big
breakthrough in "The Thin Red Line". His peformance of Private Witt, like all of Jim's peformances, is amazing. With
his charm, eyes, and southern accent, Jim was the star of the show!
In 1999, Jim played Black John in "Ride With the Devil". I have heard his part
wasn't huge, the movie is long, but beautiful. In "Any Given Sunday" Jim played Tom D'Amto, but his part was edited out of
the film, so his part never made it past the editing room floor.
2000 and 2001 proved to be big years for Jim! He appeared on a talk show for
the very first time, the Rosie O'Donell Show (he even did an impression of Tom Cruise, in which most people know she has a
huge crush on Tom!). He filmed "Madison", which was previewed at the Sundance film festival, but not yet avaliable to
the general public. Jim also starred in "Frequency" with Denis Quaid, about a 30 year old man (Jim) who communicates with
his father (Denis Quaid) through a radio (his father died several years earlier). It's a time-travel movie, it's not my favorite
movie, but its definitly worth watching. Jim was also in "Pay It Forward" with Haley Joel Osment, in which Jim's character
was a herion addict. In 2001, Jim appeared in "Angel Eyes" with J.Lo. He was actually hand picked by J.Lo to play "Catch". Due
to Jim's strong Catholic beliefs, his commitment to Kerri, the way he always stands up for his beliefs no matter what, he
turned down the oppurtunity to do a nude love scene with J.Lo. Jim didn't feel comfortable filming the scene unless J.Lo was
covered up. Jim politley explained to her that he didn't want to disrespect Kerri. As you could imagine, J.Lo was very shocked
to hear him say he didn't feel comfortable with her filming the scene nude. J.Lo ended up filming the scene wearing bra and
panties. That's not all Jim did those two years, theres more! Jim also made a short film called "Ressurrection" for the American
Bible Society (the film is avaliable on video).
In 2002, Jim starred in "The Count of Monte Cristo" with Guy Pearce and Richard
Harris. The movie is on DVD. He also starred in "High Crimes" alongside Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman.
In 2004, Jim has three movies that debuted in theathers (the third one will
be released on September 4, 2004). 2004 has been a big year for Jim so far.
Jim stars in the hit "The Passion of the Christ". This movie, Jim's peformance,
the peformance of the other actors, will literally leave you speechless. Mel Gibson directed the movie and spent about 25-30
million dollars of his own money to make this movie. Stephen McEveety (Mel Gibson's producing partner),a producer contacted
Jim about doing a surfing movie. So Jim made the appointment to meet for lunch with Stephen McEveety. So when Jim got
the part of Jesus, Jim actually thought he was trying to get a part in a surfing movie! And then Mel Gibson showed up. Mel
started talking about talking about a movie he was going to make, about Jesus, and saying that it was going to be as true
to the gospels as possible. Jim had said he had seen the "Jesus of Nazareth" movie, but Mel said no, this is going to be the
real thing. Then that was when Jim asked Mel, "You want me to play Jesus?" and Mel said "you got it!". The surfing movie turned
out to be a front, they were trying to get a feel for Jim. Then Mel started talking about filming it in Aramaic, Latin and
Hebrew, which are believed to be the languages that were actually spoken by Jesus and in first century Palestine. Jim recalls
thinking "Oh, he's not really thinking about doing that!". But oh yes, Mel really was thinking about doing that! Back in first
centurty Middle East, almost everyone spoke or understood Aramaic. Today, Aramaic is spoken only in some parts of Syria, Iran
and southern Russia. Jim thought learning Aramaic would be the most difficult part, but it turned out the physical part was
the worst for Jim. He had a 2 am wake up call to get the make up on (these sessions lasted for about 8 hours). While the make
up to create Jesus' wounds were being applied Jim couldn't sit down, instead he had to remain in a crouch position. Sometimes
Jim would even have to sleep in the make up. But unfortuantly, that wasn't the worst of the worst. During the beating scenes
Jim had a board on his back, so that when the Romans were beating Jesus, so they wouldn't actually be hurting Jim. Sometimes
accidents do happen, a very painful accident for Jim. Mel had told the actor playing the Roman torturer to 'let loose' with
the whip, to throw it over his shoulder as if he was throwing a baseball. The actor did exactly what Mel told him to. This
actor apperently had a poor aim. This time the whip hit Jim, not the board. Jim said "There was a board on my back about,
I don't know, about an inch thick, and the Roman soldiers would hit my back as they struck. They would hit that board, and
I could see through a mirror when it was coming, but I had no idea how bad it was going to hurt me. So one of the soldiers
missed the board and hit me flush on the back and it ripped the skin right off my back. But my reaction was I couldn't scream;
I couldn't breathe; I lost my wind. Anyway, so I fell over. I played football and had the wind knocked out of me before but
it was nothing like this. And it was like "Jim, get up. Get up." He didn't realize I had been hit, and so I put my hands back
in the chains and got back up on the pillar, and then a couple swings later the guy just ripped into me again. This time it
was about a 14-inch gash, and I couldn't breathe and was suffocating. Ripped my hands out of the chains, and collapsed. And
then after that, Mel tried to lighten up the situation. " Just a few minutes later, Jim was hit again. This time, the
whip had opened the gash. As a result, Jim now has a 14 inch scar on his back. That wasn't all of Jim's pain and suffering
while making "The Passion". Jim also had a dislocated shoulder. His shoulder was dislocated after carrying the Cross. The
150 pound Cross fell on Jim's left shoulder. Jim said in an interview with Rush Limbaugh, "when I was on that cross and that
wind was blowing, it kept moving that cross and kept jarring my shoulder out of joint, and I was just in excruciating pain".
Jim also had pneumonia, a lung infection, the make up to create Jesus' wounds left him with severe skin infections. Jim also
had to hyperfocus out of his left eye (his right eye had make up on it to look as if it were swollen shut), and that left
him with severe migrane headaches. Since Jim was almost completly nude on the Cross (the only thing he's wearing on the Cross
is a loincloth) he got hypothermia after just one day on the Cross. Jim said "And, you know, you're looking at people wearing
parkas and heavy, heavy coats with mittens and scarves and hats, and and they're shaking, so you can imagine what it's like
being in a loincloth. " Jim also got hit by lightning. They were filming the Sermon on the Mount scene when a storm
came through the area. Jim said "about three seconds before it hit I knew it was going to happen." People on the set said
they seen smoke and fire coming out of Jim's ear, and he had a glow around his body. Jim said (to paraphrase) "People
were screaming, and I seen extras grabbing the ground". Some people said they heard Mel screaming 'what the **** just
happend?' Jim tries lighten up the situation by adding a little light hearted touch. Jim said "I was lit up like a Christmas
tree, and afterwards, I look like I went to see Don King's hairstylist". Jim was honored to play this part. "The Passion"
opened in the United States on February 25, 2004--Ash Wednesday. It was the number 1 movie in the US for six weeks in a row.
The movie brought in about 22 million dollars opening night. It will be released on DVD on August 31, 2004. Jim stars as golf
legend Bobby Jones in the movie "Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genuis". This movie was released in April 2004. In September, Jim
has another movie that will be released on September 4, 2004. This movie is called "The Final Cut". Jim stars alongside Robin
Williams. Jim has also been nominated for an MTV Movie Award.
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At a Glance
Birth Name: James Patrick Caviezel
Date of Birth: September 26, 1968
Place of Birth: Mount Vernon, Washington
Astrological Sign:Libra
Marital Status: Jim has been married to Kerri since 1997
Favorite Foods: Mexican, a good steak
Favorite Sports: Basketball, Fencing, Baseball, Swimming, Golf
Sisters: Ann, Amy, and Erin
Brother: Tim
Father: Jim
Mother: Maggie
Jim and Kerri's Children: None (yet)
Jim's Heritage: 50% Irish, 25% Slovak, and 25% Romanch
Jim's Favorite Athlete: Roger Staubach
Interesting Fact: Jim is left handed, but he seems to be ambidextrous (writes
with both hands)
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