James Caviezel

James Patrick Caviezel (pronounced kə.ˈvi.zl̩) (born September 26, 1968) is an American film actor. He is sometimes credited as Jim Caviezel. He is perhaps best known for playing Jesus Christ in the 2004 movie, The Passion of the Christ.

Biography

Before Hollywood

James Patricka Caviezel was born on September 26, 1968 in Mount Vernon, Washington. His chiropractor father James and mother Maggie raised Jim, brother Timothy and sisters Anne, Amy, Erin as a tight-knit Roman Catholic family in Conway (Skagit County), Washington. Caviezel's surname is of Romansh origin; his father is half Slovak (maternal) and half Italian Swiss (paternal), while his mother's ancestry is Irish American. Jim attended Mount Vernon High School for two years and then moved to Seattle and lived with family friends in order to play basketball at the Catholic O'Dea High School. The following spring, he transferred from O'Dea to another Catholic school, Burien's John F. Kennedy Memorial High. There he starred on the basketball team and graduated in 1987. Following high school, Jim enrolled at Bellevue Community College where the 6 ft 2 in athlete also played basketball. A foot injury in his second year, however, put an end to Jim's hopes of a basketball career in the NBA. He later transferred to the University of Washington where he turned his focus to acting and pledged as a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Film career

After appearances in Wyatt Earp and G.I. Jane, Caviezel scored a breakthrough performance in Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line. He was originally cast to play Cyclops/Scott Summers in X-Men (2000) but dropped out due to a scheduling conflict with his other film, Frequency.

Caviezel is perhaps best associated with his role as Jesus in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004), but he has also starred in such mainstream Hollywood films as Angel Eyes, Pay It Forward and The Count of Monte Cristo (2002).

In 2001, he played the lead in Madison, a film that tells the story of the hydro races in Madison, Indiana. Caviezel's character pilots Miss Madison to victory, recounting the 1971 event. The film did not appear in theatres until 2005. In addition, his work in High Crimes (2002) was highly praised by critics.

In 2002, he played a pivotal role in the film I Am David from the Danish novel known by both David and North to Freedom, written by Ann Holm.

In 2004, Caviezel expressed interest in playing the role of Superman/Clark Kent for the upcoming Superman Returns (2006) film, even mentioning that he would dedicate his performance to Christopher Reeve. Ultimately, he was passed over by director Bryan Singer, who felt that Caviezel was too well known after starring in The Passion of the Christ (2004). The part went to newcomer Brandon Routh instead.

Caviezel plays a lead role in Unknown, an IFC project distributed by the Weinstein Company. Caviezel also has a role in Tony Scott's 2006 action film, Déjà Vu opposite Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer. He plays the lead role, Kainin, in the film, Outlander, which began principal photography in October 2006 in eastern Canada.

Personal Life

Caviezel is a devout Roman Catholic and has been a featured public speaker at religious venues since the release of The Passion. On March 19, 2005 he was the main speaker at the first Catholic Men's Conference in Boston. Caviezel stated that he chose to speak at the conference only because he liked Boston Cardinal Archbishop Sean O'Malley. His wife Kerri, also a devout Roman Catholic, is a teacher and an accomplished flautist (flute-player). The two are active in their Conejo Valley, California parish. Kerri supports a charity for single mothers and also volunteers with their church's Detention Ministry at a camp for incarcerated youth in Malibu, California.

Caviezel remains a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, which he joined while a student at the University of Washington and is a Minnesota Vikings fan.

Public Politics

On October 24, 2006, Caviezel was featured (along with Patricia Heaton, Kurt Warner, and Mike Sweeney) in an advertisement opposing Missouri Amendment 2 which amended the state constitution to create an unfettered right to conduct embryonic stem cell research utilizing cloned human embryos. While the advertisement was not directly partisan, it was clearly and widely recognized for supporting the Republican position on the issue, and more indirectly supported James Talent, the incumbent Republican Party (United States) candidate for Senate. Some alleged that the campaign supporting the amendment was deceptive by avoiding discussion of human cloning. Caviezel began the advertisement by speaking a cryptic Aramaic phrase, which did not include a translation into English. He concluded the advertisement with the warning: "You know now. Don't do it," referring to the voting in favor of the amendment.

Mr. Caviezel's use of Aramaic was a reference to his portrayal of the title role in The Passion of the Christ, which was performed in Amamaic and in Latin. Mr. Caviezel believed that his use of Aramaic and his portrayal of Jesus Christ gave additional credence to his personal arguments against the potential life-saving health benefits of stem cell research.

The advertisement appeared to be a response to a particularly effective pro-Amendment 2 advertisement featuring the actor, Michael J. Fox who lives bravely with Parkinson's Disease, who has become a strident supported of the powerful, potential health benefits of stem-cell therapies. This was reported to be entirely coincidental. It was reported to have been conceived and filmed previously.

Although Missouri Amendment 2 had a much higher margin prior to the airing commercial, it ultimately failed in its attempt to influence the outcome of the ballot initiative when in the November 2006 mid-term elections, the Amendment passed with a 51% majority. Claire McCaskill, the Democratic Party (United States) challenger, unseated Talent with a vote of 50% over 47%, with 2% of the vote going to Frank Gilmour of the Libertarian Party (United States) and 1% going to Lydia Lewis of the Progressive Party (United States), an affiliate of the Green Party (United States). [1]

Caviezel also donated in 2006 to the failed campaign to re-elect US Senator Rick Santorum[2].

Filmography

In production (working titles)

• Outlander (2007)
• Journey Into The Unknown (2006), completed documentary about the making of the movie Unknown.
• The Yellow M (2007)

Trivia

• Jim is providing the voice of Jesus on the Thomas Nelson Inc.-produced New Testament audio dramatization "The Word of Promise," set to release in fall, 2007.[3]
• In 1993, Caviezel was accepted by the Juilliard School in New York. Instead, he decided to accept Kevin Costner's offer to play a role in Wyatt Earp.
• In 2002, he drove the pace car and served as the Grand Marshall for the parade, for the annual Indianapolis 500 auto race.
• Caviezel was 33 years old at the time during the filming of The Passion of The Christ, the same age some biblical scholars believe that Jesus was when he was crucified and resurrected. His initials are "JC" which also could stand for "Jesus Christ".
• Caviezel was struck by lightning while filming The Passion of the Christ. He also was accidentally whipped, dislocated his shoulder and bruised his eye while filming the same movie.
• After the release of The Passion of the Christ, Caviezel was offered the role of spokesman for a fashion line called "Heavenly," which he refused, citing that it would be an insult to people who felt the film had something meaningful to offer.
• Caviezel is the brother-in-law of current St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan.
• Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 meters)

Wikipedia information about James Caviezel This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "James Caviezel". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.