What Jim Caviezel Learned About Jesus While Filming THE PASSION
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actor Jim Caviezel explained how he came to have a closer relationship with and understanding of Jesus as a result of a million little accidents that occurred during the filming of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST.
“Well, I was actually struck by lightning on the last shot of the movie. It’s well known, I’ve talked about it before, but prior to that, it was shoulder dislocation and it happened in the weirdest areas of the movie,” Caviezel told TBN.
“There’s a piece where Mary runs to Jesus and she says, ‘I’m here.’ And in this take, I went down and…I almost bit my tongue off and just started [bleeding], and I turned over to her, and I say, ‘I make all things new.’ And my shoulder had just been torn, the AC joint had been ripped so badly I could barely get it over in this particular take,” he continued. “So it was like, and Mel talks about this, it was like [the cross] was a little baby that I cherished, but in truth, I was screaming in pain to get my arm over the cross, but I was able to stay calm. And, you know, most people don’t realize that these little mistakes were miracles. And what I’ve noticed about Jesus is if you’re close to Him, He doesn’t prevent you from suffering — that His closest friends are going to suffer with Him.”
READ MORE: THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST ALMOST KILLED JIM CAVIEZEL
Throughout the making of the movie, accidents like this led to countless injuries for Caviezel, and he ultimately had to undergo two heart surgeries after filming was complete. However, it was through this pain that he understood what Christ went through when He died on the cross to save the world.
“[I] felt God’s love so powerful.” Caviezel previously explained when discussing the crucifixion scene. “The pain I felt was all the people in the world that do not love Him.”
READ MORE: WHY JIM CAVIEZEL WAS ‘SCARED’ TO PLAY JESUS
