Born:
September 26, 1968
in
Mount Vernon, USA
Best Known For:
Playing Jesus Christ.
Early-life:
Born James Patrick Caviezel Jr on September 26, 1968, in Mount Vernon, USA. His mother was a theatre actress, his father a chiropractor; Jim is the eldest of their five children. He claims his two major interests while growing up were sport and religion - his family are devout Roman Catholics. He had hoped to become a basketball player, but a foot injury ended his dream. He then turned his attention to acting, and made ends meet by modelling and waiting tables.
Career:
Caviezel's first stage work came in Seattle, where he'd originally moved to play basketball. He had a small role in the film My Own Private Idaho in 1991 before relocating to Los Angeles. Parts in Wyatt Earp, Murder, She Wrote and The Wonder Years followed. His breakthrough performance came in 1998's The Thin Red Line, but he didn't become famous until he played the lead role in Mel Gibson's surprise blockbusting hit The Passion of the Christ in 2004, but he suffered for his art - during filming he was struck by lightning, and suffered both pneumonia and hypothermia. He turned down the chance to play Cyclops in X-Men to take the lead in Frequency instead. Other film projects include Madison, Long Weekend and Transit; he also starred in a remake of The Prisoner on TV and crime drama Person of Interest.
Quote:
"My mom's 100 per cent Irish, and in my family we've always called acting 'blarney'."
Trivia:
He once did some modelling for Gap.