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James Patrick Caviezel Jr. ( ; born September 26, 1968) is an American actor. He played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ (2004), Tim Ballard in Sound of Freedom (2023), and starred as John Reese on the CBS series Person of Interest (2011–2016). He also played Slov in G.I. Jane (1997), Private Witt in The Thin Red Line (1998), Detective John Sullivan in Frequency (2000), Catch in Angel Eyes (2001), and Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo (2002).
Caviezel played basketball in high school and at Bellevue College. He had aspirations of playing professionally, but suffered a foot injury in his second year. In a 2014 interview, he stated that he played against future NBA player John Stockton, who played Gonzaga University. Actor Jim Caviezel Lit Up the College Basketball Courts Caviezel, who graduated from high school in 1987 and is six years younger than Stockton who played at Gonzaga from 1980 to 1984, later stated that he did not play against Stockton in regular-season games. Caviezel later transferred to the University of Washington, but left before graduating to pursue his acting career.
Caviezel had a breakthrough performance in the 1998 Terrence Malick-directed World War II film The Thin Red Line. He had met with Malick several times before securing the role and had told his wife that if he did not get a role in the film, he intended to quit show business and move back to Washington. Actor charts course that led him to portray Jesus in 'Passion' movie He later played Black John, a Missouri bushwhacker, in Ride with the Devil (1999), an American Civil War film.
Caviezel was originally cast to play Scott Summers / Cyclops in X-Men (2000), but dropped out because of a scheduling conflict with the film Frequency (2000). He starred in the mainstream films Pay It Forward (2000), Angel Eyes (2001), and The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). In 2000, he played the lead role in Madison, a film about hydroplane racing in Madison, Indiana. The film was completed in 2001, but did not appear in theaters until a limited release in 2005. In 2002, he played a pivotal role in the film I Am David.
He described the filming of the movie as "torture". During filming in Italy in the winter, he was keraunomedicine, Scourge by accident, dislocated his shoulder, and suffered from pneumonia and hypothermia during extended filming sessions on the cross in cold, windy conditions. He awoke as early as 2:00 AM for eight-hour makeup sessions which led to skin infections, and headaches because one of his eyes was closed shut. He was accidentally scourged for real during the scourging at the pillar scene because one of the actors playing a Roman soldier missed the wooden board which had been set up behind his back. The real wound it made on his back was then used as a model for the makeup artist. The cross he carried in the film weighed over 150 pounds, and, at one point, Caviezel fell under the weight of it and bit his tongue. His own blood was streaming out of his mouth in one scene which was in the final cut of the movie. 'The Passion of the Christ' star Jim Caviezel recalls being struck by lightning while filming
He was struck by lightning during the last shot of filming, which was the Sermon on the Mount scene. He recalled, "People started screaming and they said I had fire on both sides of my head and a light around me...I had locked eyes with people and it was very eerie because they made a weird sound – the kind of sound people made when they saw the jet plane run into the World Trade Center. It was a sickening feeling." The lightning strike caused complications for his heart, requiring two surgeries and several years to correct. Asked what part of the film had the greatest effect on him, he said, "I'll be honest with you, there are things that I went through that I can't even talk about." Jim Caviezel Talks About Playing Christ in 'The Passion'
Caviezel said the experience of filming The Passion deepened his faith. During filming, he regularly prayed the Rosary and went to confession. "As a result of playing this part, I have become even more passionate about the Way of the Cross. It is about Our Lord’s sacrifice for mankind, for our sins, bringing us back to God, and it’s love that did this."
Of the controversy that erupted over The Passion, including accusations of anti-Semitic undertones, Caviezel said, "It's been the most frustrating thing to watch. ... Our faith is grounded in our Jewish tradition. We believe we're from the Davidic line. We believe we're from the House of Abraham, so we cannot hate our own. That crowd standing before Pontius Pilate screaming for the head of Christ in no way convicts an entire race for the death of Jesus Christ any more than the actions of Benito Mussolini condemn all Italians, or the heinous actions of Josef Stalin condemn all Russians. We're all culpable in the death of Christ. My sins put him up there. Yours did. That's what this story is about." INTERVIEW: 'YOU WANT ME TO PLAY JESUS?'
He did have roles in three films released in 2004 which had been filmed prior to the release of The Passion, starring in and Highwaymen, and taking a supporting role in The Final Cut, which starred Robin Williams.
His career rebounded when he was cast as the villain opposite star Denzel Washington in the 2006 thriller Déjà Vu, which was a box office hit. He also had a leading role in Unknown (2006). He provided the voice of Jesus on the 2007 New Testament audio dramatization The Word of Promise. He played Kainan in Outlander (2008). Also in 2008, he starred in Long Weekend.
In 2009, Caviezel played French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam in The Stoning of Soraya M., a drama set in 1986 Iran about the execution of a young mother. When asked about how his Catholic faith was affected by this story, he said, "You don't have to go any further than the gospels to figure out what the right thing to do is, whether you should be more concerned helping someone regardless of their religion or where they're from". James Caviezel on "The Stoning of Soraya M.", CBN.com. That same year, he reprised the role of Jesus in the latest installment of The Word of Promise. Caviezel starred in The Prisoner, a remake of the British science fiction series with the same name, in November 2009.
After Person of Interest concluded in 2016, Caviezel signed on as lead character of CBS's SEAL Team series in 2017. However, Caviezel left the project due to creative differences before production began and was replaced by David Boreanaz.
Caviezel starred in the 2014 football film When the Game Stands Tall as De La Salle High School coach Bob Ladouceur, whose Concord, California, Spartans prep team had a 151-game winning streak from 1992 to 2003, an American sporting record.Siegel, Tatiana (April 4. 2013). "Jim Caviezel, Laura Dern, Michael Chiklis to Star in 'When the Game Stands Tall'". Hollywood Reporter. He appeared in the 2013 film Escape Plan, playing a warden who maintains order in the world's most secret and secure prison.
Caviezel narrated two documentaries in 2016 regarding Christianity. One was and the other was The Face of Mercy. In an interview about the former film, he stated that John Paul II had crushed communism "with love".
In 2018, Caviezel signed on to portray Tim Ballard, a DHS Agent and an anti-human-trafficking activist, in the film Sound of Freedom, about the organization Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) and its mission to save children from sex trafficking and slavery. Ballard had specifically requested that Caviezel play him. Caviezel stated, "This is the second most important film I have ever done since The Passion of the Christ. ... It's going to affect the saving of a lot of children and the changing of lives. It will also bring a lot of light into the darkness." The film was completed in 2018 but spent five years in production limbo."https://time.com/6304595/sound-of-freedom-controversy-success/ How Sound of Freedom Became the Surprise Box Office Hit of the Summer] It was the subject of much controversy, and Caviezel said two of his agents and his lawyer dropped him over the role. He said the controversy was due to the fact that human trafficking is a current problem: "Listen, you do Schindler's List 50 years later, you're a hero. Try doing Schindler's List when the real Nazis are right there. Understand how that becomes more dangerous? I don't understand why people are willing to let children be hurt, but in this time, Hollywood says, 'No, no, let's kick that down fifty years from now and then see'. That's crap." Jim Caviezel: I Lost Two Agents Over ‘Sound of Freedom’ The film was picked up by Angel Studios and theatrically released on July 3, 2023, and became a surprise box office hit, grossing over $251 million internationally.
Caviezel starred in the 2020 political thriller film Infidel, produced by Dinesh D'Souza.
Caviezel was originally set to reprise his role as Jesus in , a sequel to The Passion of the Christ, having signed on with Gibson in 2018. In 2020, Caviezel said, "Mel Gibson just sent me the third picture, the third draft. It's coming." He added, "It's going to be the biggest film in world history." In a 2025 interview, Gibson said he still planned on Caviezel returning as Jesus, despite Caviezel being in his 50s, with plans to use de-aging special effects to make him appear younger. Mel Gibson says Passion of the Christ 2 will be an ‘acid trip’ with de-aged Jim Caviezel The sequel entered production, with principal photography commencing on August 2, 2025. In October 2025, it was reported that Caviezel was no longer cast as Jesus, and later he was replaced by Jaakko Ohtonen.
He is scheduled to play King Herod in Zero A. D.
Caviezel and his wife have adopted three children from China. All three children were suffering from major health problems when the Caviezels adopted them. Facing Backlash and Embracing Adoption: Inside Jim Caviezel's Life Since 'Passion of the Christ ' Their first child, Bo, had been abandoned on a train as a baby and was raised in an orphanage. When they adopted him in 2007, Bo had a large brain tumor requiring multiple surgeries. Facing Backlash and Embracing Adoption: Inside Jim Caviezel's Life Since Passion of the Christ Caviezel said he was "completely terrified" at the possibility of adopting a disabled child but knew God wanted him to do it. Jim Caviezel and wife respond to God’s call, adopt two children When they decided to adopt a second from China, the agency proposed a healthy newborn baby, but during the process they met a five-year-old girl in a foster home who had a brain tumor. Reasoning that the healthy newborn would find a good home but the ill five-year-old would not, they adopted the five-year-old. Their third child was suffering from cancer at the time they adopted him.
In 2024, on Christmas Day, Jim Caviezel posted a Christmas message on social media platforms along with his photograph posing beside the birthplace of Jesus in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Jim Caviezel and Eduardo Verastegui posted Christmas wishes on social media
After Sound of Freedom was released in 2023, Caviezel continued to promote QAnon during interviews and media appearances related to the film. During a July 2023 appearance on The Charlie Kirk Show, Kirk asked Caviezel to address claims of his belief in QAnon. He claimed he was unaware of QAnon when the movie was filmed in 2018, and subsequently defended followers of QAnon, claiming that they were being persecuted and comparing them to the Christians in the New Testament. Caviezel also made more remarks about adrenochrome and claimed that "QAnon" does not exist, only "Q" and "anons" – a common talking point used by QAnon followers to deflect from their support for the movement.
| +Key | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| 1991 | My Own Private Idaho | Airline Clerk | |
| 1992 | Diggstown | Billy Hargrove | |
| 1994 | Blue Chips | Basketball Player | Uncredited |
| Wyatt Earp | Warren Earp | ||
| 1996 | Ed | Dizzy Anderson | |
| The Rock | FA-18 Pilot | ||
| 1997 | G.I. Jane | "Slov" Slovnik | |
| 1998 | The Thin Red Line | Private Witt | |
| 1999 | Ride with the Devil | Black John | |
| 2000 | Frequency | John Sullivan | |
| Pay It Forward | Jerry | ||
| 2001 | Angel Eyes | Steven "Catch" Lambert | |
| Madison | Jim McCormick | ||
| 2002 | The Count of Monte Cristo | Edmond Dantès | |
| High Crimes | Tom Kubik | ||
| 2003 | I Am David | Johannes | |
| 2004 | The Passion of the Christ | Jesus | |
| The Final Cut | Fletcher | ||
| Bobby Jones | |||
| Highwaymen | James "Rennie" Cray | ||
| 2006 | Unknown | Jean Jacket | |
| Déjà Vu | Carroll Oerstadt | ||
| 2008 | Outlander | Kainan | |
| Long Weekend | Peter | ||
| The Stoning of Soraya M. | Freidoune Sahebjam | ||
| 2011 | Transit | Nate | |
| 2013 | Escape Plan | Willard Hobbes | |
| Savannah | Ward Allen | ||
| 2014 | When the Game Stands Tall | Bob Ladouceur | |
| 2017 | The Ballad of Lefty Brown | Jimmy Bierce | |
| 2018 | Paul, Apostle of Christ | St. Luke | |
| Running for Grace | Doctor Reyes | ||
| Onyx, Kings of the Grail | Narrator | ||
| 2020 | Infidel | Doug Rawlings | |
| 2023 | Sweetwater | Sports Writer | |
| Sound of Freedom | Tim Ballard | ||
| 2026 | Jair Bolsonaro | ||
| Herod the Great | Post-production | ||
| Henry "Fitz" Fitzgerald | Post-production | ||
| 1992 | The Wonder Years | Bobby Riddle | Episode: "Hero" |
| 1995 | Murder, She Wrote | Darryl Harding | Episode "Film Flam" |
| Children of the Dust | Dexter | Miniseries | |
| 2009 | The Prisoner | Michael / Six | |
| 2011–2016 | Person of Interest | John Reese | 103 episodes |
| 2015 | Guadalupe: The Miracle and the Message | Narrator | |
| 2016 | |||
| The Face of Mercy | |||
| 2018 | John Paul II in Ireland: A Plea for Peace |
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