You might know his face but a lot of people get tripped up on his name. Jim Caviezel is one of those actors that pops up in a lot of movies and TV shows either as a supporting character, an extra, or a lead, and yet a lot of folks still have trouble remembering his name for some reason. But the fun thing about Jim is that he doesn’t really care about that and the fact that he’s pretty comfortable where he’s at. He’s the kind of guy that puts in a great performance not knowing if people are going to respond to him in a positive way or not but will continue to do his best because he loves what he does. Let’s face it, a lot of actors might never know going into a movie if people are really going to love it or hate it, but those that really enjoy their job will be the ones that give everything they have and thereby redeem the movie in some way.
Here are a few things you might not have known about him.
10. He was a basketball player in college.
Given that you might not know a lot about him this shouldn’t come as a shock, more as a revelation really. He played up until he hurt his foot, which for a lot of ballers is a pretty serious injury that can’t be ignored.
9. Jim got to drive the pace car in the Indy 500 race in 2002.
If he’s a racing fan then this would have likely been a huge rush for him since it’s almost like allowing a diehard baseball fan to come out on the pitcher’s mound and throw out the first pitch of the season. Maybe not quite as dramatic but close.
8. During the filming of the Passion of the Christ he was struck by lightning.
He also developed a case of hypothermia, which leaves one to wonder if it was truly wise to keep filming since someone or something seemed intent on delivering a message in some form. There are those that would have heeded such a warning, but Hollywood bows to no one remember.
7. Not too long after being cast in the Passion of the Christ Jim realized he was roughly the same age as Jesus Christ when he was said to have died.
His initials are even the same and since it’s apparently been worked out just how old Christ really was when he was crucified it’s kind of eerie to think that Jim was such a spot on match as far as his name and his age go.
6. He’d just about given up on acting at one point.
It’s kind of difficult for actors when they don’t have the work to keep them going or sustain even a semblance of a career. But before he was able to quit a friend finally came to him and suggested that he keep moving forward and also made mention of a project that he might be perfect for.
5. He was originally supposed to be Cyclops in X-Men.
Jim declined this to star in the film Frequency instead. While James Marsden didn’t do a bad job it’s still kind of a head-scratcher to think what might have happened if Jim had taken the role since Frequency didn’t do nearly as well as X-Men did, and even if Cyclops was gone by the third film, it could have been a serious boost to Jim’s career. Oh well.
4. He’s an alumni of UW and USC.
Okay, guilty. Anytime a celebrity is from or has attended school in the west I can admit that much like a lot of people I feel a certain swell of pride. And considering that Jim hails from Mount Vernon in Washington it’s an even greater feeling. Admit it, a lot of people feel this way about their favorite actors.
3. Jim was one of the few that was considered for Superman Returns.
He was actually interested in the role of Clark Kent/Superman but the director didn’t want him. This had nothing to do with Jim’s acting potential, but instead was because he was simply ‘too famous’ since he’d just finished Passion of the Christ and no one wanted to shell out the big bucks.
2. One of the whips in Passion of the Christ actually cut him.
Apparently the whip, which was all too real, was supposed to hit a board that was strategically placed to take the blow, but something slipped and the whip cut Jim’s back. The things that happened to him on this set just seemed to be kind of disturbing in a way, as though someone up above really had a problem with it.
1. He does a fairly good Christopher Walken impersonation.
To be fair a lot of people can nail this impression fairly well, but getting the voice right, and the mannerisms, is something that a lot of people just can’t get put together.
He is famous, and he is good at what he does.
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