James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (born September 26, 1968) is an American actor, known for his starring role as John Reese on the CBS series Person of Interest (2011-2016), Private Witt in The Thin Red Line (1998), Slovnik in G.I. Jane (1997), Detective John Sullivan in Frequency (2000), Catch in聽Angel Eyes聽(2001),聽Edmond Dant猫s in The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), and his portrayal of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004).
He began acting in plays in聽Seattle, WA. He earned his聽Screen Actors Guild聽card with a minor role in the 1991 film聽My Own Private Idaho. He then moved to聽Los Angeles聽to pursue a career in acting.
He was offered a scholarship to study acting at聽NY's聽Juilliard School聽in 1993, but turned it down to portray聽Warren Earp聽in the 1994 film聽Wyatt Earp.聽He later appeared in episodes of聽Murder, She Wrote聽and聽The Wonder Years. After appearing in聽G.I. Jane聽(1997), he had a breakthrough performance in the 1998聽Terrence Malick聽World War II聽film聽The Thin Red Line.
He was originally cast to play聽Scott Summers / Cyclops聽in聽X-Men聽(2000), but dropped out due to a scheduling conflict with the film聽Frequency聽(2000).
He starred in the mainstream films聽Pay It Forward聽(2000),聽The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), and聽Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius聽(2004).
He portrayed聽Jesus Christ聽in聽Mel Gibson's 2004 film聽The Passion of the Christ. During filming, he was聽struck by lightning, accidentally scourged, had his shoulder dislocated, and suffered from聽pneumonia聽and聽hypothermia. Prior to filming, Gibson reportedly warned Caviezel that playing Jesus in his controversial film would hurt his acting career. In 2011, Caviezel claimed that good roles had been hard to come by since, but stated that the movie, in particular the role of Jesus Christ, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
He had leading roles in the 2006 films聽Unknown聽and聽D茅j脿 Vu. He played Kainan in Outlander聽(2008) and provided the voice of Jesus on the 2007聽New Testament audio dramatization聽The Word of Promise. In 2008, he starred in聽Long Weekend and in November 2009, he starred in聽The Prisoner, a remake of the British sci-fi series The Prisoner.
From 2011 to 2016, Caviezel starred in the CBS drama series聽Person of Interest聽as John Reese, a former CIA agent who now works for a mysterious billionaire as a vigilante. The show received the highest ratings in 15 years for a series pilot. Caviezel was nominated for the People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic TV Actor in 2014聽and again in 2016聽for his work on聽Person of Interest.
In 2017, Caviezel signed on as lead character of CBS's聽SEAL Team聽series, however; he left the project due to creative differences before production began and was replaced by聽David Boreanaz.
He has also narrated multiple documentaries.
He began acting in plays in聽Seattle, WA. He earned his聽Screen Actors Guild聽card with a minor role in the 1991 film聽My Own Private Idaho. He then moved to聽Los Angeles聽to pursue a career in acting.
He was offered a scholarship to study acting at聽NY's聽Juilliard School聽in 1993, but turned it down to portray聽Warren Earp聽in the 1994 film聽Wyatt Earp.聽He later appeared in episodes of聽Murder, She Wrote聽and聽The Wonder Years. After appearing in聽G.I. Jane聽(1997), he had a breakthrough performance in the 1998聽Terrence Malick聽World War II聽film聽The Thin Red Line.
He was originally cast to play聽Scott Summers / Cyclops聽in聽X-Men聽(2000), but dropped out due to a scheduling conflict with the film聽Frequency聽(2000).
He starred in the mainstream films聽Pay It Forward聽(2000),聽The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), and聽Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius聽(2004).
He portrayed聽Jesus Christ聽in聽Mel Gibson's 2004 film聽The Passion of the Christ. During filming, he was聽struck by lightning, accidentally scourged, had his shoulder dislocated, and suffered from聽pneumonia聽and聽hypothermia. Prior to filming, Gibson reportedly warned Caviezel that playing Jesus in his controversial film would hurt his acting career. In 2011, Caviezel claimed that good roles had been hard to come by since, but stated that the movie, in particular the role of Jesus Christ, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
He had leading roles in the 2006 films聽Unknown聽and聽D茅j脿 Vu. He played Kainan in Outlander聽(2008) and provided the voice of Jesus on the 2007聽New Testament audio dramatization聽The Word of Promise. In 2008, he starred in聽Long Weekend and in November 2009, he starred in聽The Prisoner, a remake of the British sci-fi series The Prisoner.
From 2011 to 2016, Caviezel starred in the CBS drama series聽Person of Interest聽as John Reese, a former CIA agent who now works for a mysterious billionaire as a vigilante. The show received the highest ratings in 15 years for a series pilot. Caviezel was nominated for the People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic TV Actor in 2014聽and again in 2016聽for his work on聽Person of Interest.
In 2017, Caviezel signed on as lead character of CBS's聽SEAL Team聽series, however; he left the project due to creative differences before production began and was replaced by聽David Boreanaz.
He has also narrated multiple documentaries.
