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).
Early life
Caviezel was born in Mount Vernon, Washington, the son of Margaret (née Lavery), a homemaker and former stage actress, and James Caviezel, a chiropractor. He has a younger brother, Timothy, and three sisters, Ann, Amy, and Erin. He was raised in a Roman Catholic family in Conway, Washington. His surname is Romansh. His father is of Swiss Romansh and Slovak descent, while his mother is Irish American.
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. Caviezel later transferred to the University of Washington, but left before graduating to pursue his acting career.
Career
Early roles
Caviezel says that at age 19 while watching a movie in a theater, he felt a sense of peace overcome him and that God was asking him to become an actor. After his basketball career ended due to injury, he began acting in plays in Seattle, Washington. He earned his Screen Actors Guild card with a minor role in the 1991 film My Own Private Idaho. He then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. When he decided to move, "people thought I was out of my mind," he said. He was offered a scholarship to study acting at New York's Juilliard School in 1993, but he turned it down to portray Warren Earp in the 1994 film Wyatt Earp. He later appeared in episodes of Murder, She Wrote and The Wonder Years, along with a role in G.I. Jane (1997).
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. He later played Black John, a Missouri bushwhacker, in Ride with the Devil (1999), an American Civil War film.
The Passion of the Christ
thumb|Caviezel receiving an award, 2005
Caviezel was first approached about playing Jesus Christ in The Passion of the Christ through his agent, who told him Mel Gibson and his partner were interested in him for a role in an unrelated screenplay, which he later learned was a cover story. Caviezel met with Gibson in Malibu, and after more than three hours of conversation, brought up the role of Jesus, which Caviezel accepted. The following day, Gibson called Caviezel to ask if he was sure he wanted the role and told him he may never work in Hollywood again if he accepted the role. Caviezel says he responded, "Each one of us has our own cross to carry — we either pick it up and carry it or we get crushed under the weight of it."
He described the filming of the movie as "torture". During filming in Italy in the winter, he was struck by lightning, scourged 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 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."
Caviezel said the experience of filming The Passion deepened his faith. During filming, he regularly prayed the Rosary and went to confession.
After The Passion
Caviezel's career struggled in the years immediately following The Passion, which grossed over $600 million at the box office and was the second highest-grossing R-rated film ever made at the time after The Matrix Reloaded. In 2018, he told People, "As soon as I did Passion, other [film offers] stopped coming in," but added, "I'm a big boy and I'm not going to play a victim." He became more outspoken about his beliefs, saying, "I had no choice but to defend my faith at that point."
He did have roles in three films released in 2004 which had been filmed prior to the release of The Passion, starring in Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius 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". 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.
Person of Interest and other roles
thumb|Caviezel with Person of Interest co-star [[Michael Emerson, 2012]]
From 2011 to 2016, Caviezel starred in the CBS drama series Person of Interest as John Reese, a former CIA agent who now works for a mysterious billionaire as a vigilante. He drew on martial arts training he had done as a child and boxing experience as an adult to do most of his own stunts. The show received the highest ratings in 15 years for a series pilot and consistently garnered over 10 million weekly viewers, with much critical acclaim. Caviezel was nominated for the People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic TV Actor in 2014 and again in 2016 for his work on Person of Interest.
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. 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 Liberating a Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism 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".
Most recent projects
Caviezel portrayed the Apostle Luke in the film Paul, Apostle of Christ, which opened in theaters on March 23, 2018, to mixed reviews.
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. 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 his belief that human trafficking was/is still legal in many European countries: "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 where we're at]'. That's crap." 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 The Resurrection of the Christ, 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. 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.
In 2025, Caviezel was cast to portray former Brazilian President and convicted criminal Jair Bolsonaro in the biographical thriller Dark Horse, directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh. The film, scripted by Nowrasteh and former Brazilian Secretary of Culture Mário Frias, focuses on Bolsonaro's 2018 presidential campaign and the staged stabbing attempt against him. Production took place in Brazil and the United States, with a scheduled release for September 2026.
Personal life
Marriage and children
In 1996, Caviezel married Kerri Browitt, a high school English teacher. Out of respect for his wife and his faith, Caviezel avoids doing graphic sex scenes in his roles. He said, "I do love scenes—but not ones with gratuitous sex. I also don't do gratuitous violence. And it's not just about my wife, although that's important. It's sin, pure and simple. I mean, it's wrong." Caviezel's wife requested he wear a shirt and Jennifer Lopez wear a top during a love scene in the film Angel Eyes, and he refused to strip in a love scene with Ashley Judd in High Crimes.
Caviezel and his wife have adopted three children from China. Caviezel said he was "completely terrified" at the possibility of adopting a disabled child but knew God wanted him to do it. 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. During the filming of The Passion of the Christ in Italy, he received daily counsel, confession, and Holy Communion from a local Catholic priest, with an interpreter.
Political views
Caviezel is publicly against abortion. In the advertisement, the line did not include a translation into English. Caviezel closed the commercial with the line, "You know now. Don't do it. Vote no on 2." The advertisement was a response to a commercial featuring Michael J. Fox, who favored embryonic stem cell research.
Support of QAnon
Beginning in 2021, Caviezel endorsed elements of the QAnon conspiracy theory, first doing so during a remote appearance at the "Health and Freedom Conference" at Rhema Bible Training College in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The appearance was to promote the film Sound of Freedom, centering on anti-human trafficking activist Tim Ballard. Ballard's activism has been alleged to correspond to the rise of QAnon, though he denies any connection to the movement. Caviezel mentioned that Ballard was supposed to be appearing at the conference but was "saving victims of trafficking" who were victims of "adrenochroming", a practice whose existence is suggested by QAnon adherents. Caviezel suggested he had seen evidence of children being subjected to the practice. The event included appearances by other QAnon promoters, such as L. Lin Wood and Michael Flynn. In October of the same year, Caviezel spoke in Las Vegas at the "For God & Country: Patriot Double Down" conference, where he mentioned the need to fight child sex trafficking, Satan and liberal values. He claimed that "the storm is upon us", a slogan associated with QAnon echoing the belief in a final battle against evil and repeated the battle cry of William Wallace in Braveheart, also urging the audience to Lucifer and his henchmen straight back to hell where they belong".
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.
Dark Horse Controversies
The production of Dark Horse has been the subject of significant media scrutiny regarding its financing. In May 2026, investigative reports by The Intercept Brasil and The Guardian revealed leaked audio and text messages involving Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (the former president's son) and banker Daniel Vorcaro.
The leaked communications suggested that Flávio Bolsonaro sought approximately $26.8 million from Vorcaro to ensure payments for the film's cast and crew, including Caviezel and Nowrasteh. According to the reports, the Senator invited Vorcaro to a private dinner with Caviezel and Nowrasteh in São Paulo in late 2025 to discuss the project.
Senator Bolsonaro initially denied any involvement with Vorcaro, but he eventually confirmed he sought private sponsorship from him. Vorcaro was later arrested in connection with a major banking fraud investigation involving Banco Master. The production company, GOUP Entertainment, denied receiving funds directly from Vorcaro, though Brazilian federal authorities have opened inquiries to investigate potential money laundering and the source of the film's budget, since leaked messages suggest Vorcaro authorized the movie's funding through Banco Master.
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| The Final Cut
| Fletcher
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| Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius
| Bobby Jones
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| Highwaymen
| James "Rennie" Cray
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| rowspan="2" | 2006
| Unknown
| Jean Jacket
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| Déjà Vu
| Carroll Oerstadt
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| rowspan="3" | 2008
| Outlander
| Kainan
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| Long Weekend
| Peter
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| The Stoning of Soraya M.
| Freidoune Sahebjam
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| 2011
| Transit
| Nate
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| rowspan="2" | 2013
| Escape Plan
| Willard Hobbes
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| Savannah
| Ward Allen
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| 2014
| When the Game Stands Tall
| Bob Ladouceur
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| 2017
| The Ballad of Lefty Brown
| Jimmy Bierce
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| rowspan="3" | 2018
| Paul, Apostle of Christ
| St. Luke
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| Running for Grace
| Doctor Reyes
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| Onyx, Kings of the Grail
| Narrator
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| 2020
| Infidel
| Doug Rawlings
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| rowspan="2" | 2023
| Sweetwater
| Sports Writer
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| Sound of Freedom
| Tim Ballard
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| rowspan="3" |2026
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|Jair Bolsonaro
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| Herod the Great
| Post-production
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| Henry "Fitz" Fitzgerald
| Post-production
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Television
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