NEWSWEEK INTERVIEW: Actor Jim Caviezel

Yahoo News ^ | February 10, 2004

[NYer]

NEW YORK, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Jim Caviezel, the 35-year-old actor who plays the role of Jesus in Mel Gibson's controversial new movie "The Passion of the Christ" tells Newsweek that it has been "frustrating" to watch Gibson being accused of anti-Semitism. "I can tell you this much, the guy is not in the least anti-Semitic. I never saw it," he says. "Maia Morgenstern [who plays the Virgin Mary] is this beautiful Jewish Romanian actress whose parents were in the Holocaust. Every day he'd say, "Maia, tell me about your traditions. Is this OK to do?" He wanted to make this film very Semitic."

• (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040208/NYSU003 )

  In an interview with Senior Writer Sean Smith in the February 16 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, February 9), Caviezel says Jewish leaders have "every right" to defend their faith. "But I believe that when all my Jewish brothers see this film, they will realize that it's not about assigning blame. It's about love. It's about sacrifice. It's about forgiveness and hope," he says.

  The actor, who describes working with Gibson as "a little like waltzing in a hurricane," says the director told him he rediscovered the Gospels after going through a rough stretch in his life. "He began meditating on the passion and death of Jesus. In doing so, he said the wounds of Christ healed his wounds. And I think the film expresses that."

  Caviezel tells Newsweek that physical pain was the most challenging aspect of the role, which required him to wear only a loincloth in winter while filming in Italy. "[During the Crucifixion] the wind was just coming down those canyons, slicing me apart," he says. The cold was just ... have you seen those things at the fair where there's a guy on a wheel, and they spin the wheel and throw knives at him and they just miss? On this movie I felt like they were all hitting me."

  Caviezel also recounts being struck by lightning while shooting the Sermon on the Mount. "About four seconds before it happened it was quiet, and then it was like someone slapped my ears," he says. "I had seven or eight seconds of, like, a pink, fuzzy color, and people started screaming. They said I had fire on the left side of my head and light around my body. All I can tell you is that I looked like I went to Don King's hairstylist."

  When asked whether playing the role has deepened his faith, Caviezel says he loves Christ "more than [he] ever knew possible." "I love him more than my wife, my family. There were times when I was up there [on the cross], and I could barely speak. Continual hypothermia is so excruciating. I connected to a place I could have never, ever gone. I don't want people to see me. All I want them to see is Jesus Christ."

            (Read Newsweek's news releases at www.Newsweek.MSNBC.com.
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[3catsanadog]

Last year at the Oscars, any one who played a homo in a film, or anyone who made a film with gay aspects won an Oscar.

This year the awards will go to the biggest Bush bashers.

[Argus]

Who Really Killed Jesus?

We all do, every day.

Next question.

[GirlShortstop]

Although I am sure God is going to bless him in every more important ways.
I think the Lord has already begun   :-)  FReegards!

"It's about love.  It's about sacrifice.  It's about forgiveness and hope," Caviezel says he loves Christ "more than [he] ever knew possible."

[lawgirl]

Huh? did you say something? Sorry- the bottom right hand corner of your post distracted me for a moment..........

;-) I have been talking about this guy for YEARS- people saying "Jim who??" and I am so glad he is getting proper media attention, and the movie as well. I think it will change lives.

I support Jim on every movie I can- everthing he puts out I go to see- just as my own way of saying TAKE THAT! to Hollywood and to support this (gorgeous) actor that puts Christ first in his life. (Plus what a hottie! He's got nothing on George Clooney, and rabid leftwing hate doesn't come spewing out of his mouth! WOOHOO!!)

[rogue yam]

"Maia Morgenstern [who plays the Virgin Mary] is this beautiful Jewish Romanian actress..."

Easy to say. Where's the photo?

[Ciexyz]

Thanks for the tips on the films Angel Eyes and Frequency. I'll put them on my list to rent. By the way, when I saw Jim Caviezel on EWTN talking about The Passion, I thought that he was one of the best-looking actors working today.

[GirlShortstop]

Huh? did you say something? Sorry- the bottom right hand corner of your post distracted me for a moment..........

LOL!!!   If I had my way, any article in which Jim Caviezel is notably mentioned would *require* his photo.  :-)

I support Jim on every movie I can- everthing he puts out I go to see- just as my own way of saying TAKE THAT! to Hollywood and to support this (gorgeous) actor that puts Christ first in his life.

I know what you mean.  Same here in regard to Caviezel movies.  It's a miracle that someone like Jim Caviezel has managed to make himself known in Hollyweird.  Ya gotta love the TAKE THAT! it screams to the ideologically twisted "stars".  FReegards.

[NYer]

Where's the photo?

Here ya go!

Maia Morgenstern

[BossLady]

Jim Caviezel Zing!

[rogue yam]

Thank ya kindly!

[mdmathis6]

The saw a flame on his left temple and his body surrounded by light...it probably was lightning(Saint Elmo's fire lightning; high voltage but little amperage, not harmful ultimately), but the man was not hurt, and the movie set had already been a scene of conversions and spiritual presence. So are you prepared to say it wasn't anything spiritual?

I was just saying the description of the Sermon of the Mount "occurence reminded me of Pentecost, whether it was a true manifestation or not...who knows. But the Bible says that men come to the Christ as the spirit woos them. The conversions described on the set certainly denote His presence.

[adam_az]

"The saw a flame on his left temple and his body surrounded by light...it probably was lightning(Saint Elmo's fire lightning; high voltage but little amperage, not harmful ultimately), but the man was not hurt, and the movie set had already been a scene of conversions and spiritual presence. So are you prepared to say it wasn't anything spiritual?"

Yes, I am. I guess I have a higher standard for proof than you do.

[lawgirl]

Hey!!! We can adopt the Ann Coulter rule and say that no posts about Jim Caviezel can be posted without his photo!!

Like...say....THIS ONE!

**faint**

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

That's a great photograph. Ahem. (He's from my area.)

[lawgirl]

Yeah I am glad he is married (as am I). He could be a serious distraction. ;-)

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

LOL - yes, I suppose he could be. : )

[vikingchick]

Thanks for the zing. Think I'll go see this movie....sounds like it'll be good.

[HitmanLV]

Hey this guy looks a lot like.....me!

[flying Elvis]

"It is the liberal media's dim view of Southern Christians and the myth that they are obsessed about the Jews being "the one that killed our Lord" - this keeps the story going for them."

That's the odd part, Southern Christians are the most pro Jewish group in the nation. I never met an antisemite until I joined the navy and a couple of guys from Brooklyn brought it up. All of us Georgians in my company hung around together, including a guy named Hortman, and the first thing the Brooklynites said, "You're Jewish huh?" We Georgia boys were a bit taken aback about it.

The "Christ killer" stigma is primarily a Euro-Catholic prejudice. (And no I am not bashing Catholics in this forum, for what it's worth I have not encountered any anti-semite Catholics in the South either).

[flying Elvis]

From IMDB:
Birth name
James Patrick Caviezel

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Height
6' 2" (1.88 m)

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Spouse
Kerri Caviezel (1997 - present)

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Trivia
Grew up in a tight-knit Catholic family.

Dad is Jim, Mom is Maggie

3 sisters-Ann, Amy, Erin 1 brother-Tim

Guest appearance on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" 24 April, 2000

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 Passion, The (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.

In an oddly poetic coincidence, he was struck by lightning while filming his role of Jesus in "The Passion of Christ".

Was struck by lighting during the filming of Mel Gibson's "Passion". 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."