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 Angel Eyes (2001), Edmond Dantès 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 Seattle, WA. 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.
He was offered a scholarship to study acting at NY's Juilliard School in 1993, but 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. After appearing in G.I. Jane (1997), he had a breakthrough performance in the 1998 Terrence Malick World War II film The Thin Red Line.
He was originally cast to play Scott Summers / Cyclops in X-Men (2000), but dropped out due to a scheduling conflict with the film Frequency (2000).
He starred in the mainstream films Pay It Forward (2000), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), and Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004).
He portrayed Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson's 2004 film The Passion of the Christ. During filming, he was struck by lightning, accidentally scourged, had his shoulder dislocated, and suffered from pneumonia and 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 Unknown and Déjà Vu. He played Kainan in Outlander (2008) and provided the voice of Jesus on the 2007 New Testament audio dramatization The Word of Promise. In 2008, he starred in Long Weekend and in November 2009, he starred in The Prisoner, a remake of the British sci-fi series The Prisoner.
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. 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 and again in 2016 for his work on Person of Interest.
In 2017, Caviezel signed on as lead character of CBS's SEAL Team series, however; he left the project due to creative differences before production began and was replaced by David Boreanaz.
He has also narrated multiple documentaries.
4.86
Popularity47
Credits6.6
Rating48.9M
Budget303M
RevenueActing
Primarily2027 The Resurrection of the Christ: Part Two as Jesus Producer
2027 The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One as Jesus Producer
2025 Zero A.D. as King Herod
2025 St. Vincent
2023 Sound of Freedom as Tim Ballard
2023 Sweetwater as Sports Writer
2019 Infidel as Doug Rawlins
2019 Onyx: Kings of the Grail as Narrator (voice)
2018 John Paul II in Ireland: A Plea for Peace as Self
2018 Running for Grace as Reyes
2018 Paul, Apostle of Christ as Luke
2017 The Ballad of Lefty Brown as Jimmy Bierce
2016 The Face of Mercy as Narrator (voice)
2014 When the Game Stands Tall as Bob Ladouceur
2013 Escape Plan as Willard Hobbes
2013 Savannah as Ward Allen
2012 Transit as Nate
2009 Kabul 24 as Narrator (voice)
2009 Long Weekend as Peter
2009 The Stoning of Soraya M. as Freidoune
2009 Facing Extinction: Christians of Iraq as Narrator (voice)
2008 Outlander as Kainan
2006 Déjà Vu as Carroll Oerstadt
2006 Unknown as Jean Jacket
2005 Madison as Jim McCormick
2004 The Final Cut as Fletcher
2004 Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius as Bobby Jones
2004 The Big Question as Self
2004 The Passion of the Christ as Jesus
2004 Highwaymen as James 'Rennie' Cray
2003 I Am David as Johannes
2002 Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick as Self
2002 High Crimes as Tom Kubik
2002 The Count of Monte Cristo as Edmond Dantes
2001 Angel Eyes as Steven "Catch" Lambert
2001 The Science And Technology Behind 'Frequency' as Self
2000 Pay It Forward as Jerry
2000 Frequency as John Sullivan
1999 Ride with the Devil as Black John
1998 The Thin Red Line as Pvt. Robert Witt
1997 G.I. Jane as Slovnik
1996 The Rock as Rear F-18 Pilot
1996 Ed as Dizzy
1994 Wyatt Earp as Warren Earp
1994 Blue Chips as Basketball Player (uncredited)
1992 Diggstown as Billy Hargrove
1991 My Own Private Idaho as Airline Clerk