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 inย Angel Eyesย (2001),ย Edmond Dantรจs 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 inย Seattle, WA. He earned hisย Screen Actors Guildย card with a minor role in the 1991 filmย My Own Private Idaho. He then moved toย Los Angelesย to pursue a career in acting.
He was offered a scholarship to study acting atย NY'sย Juilliard Schoolย in 1993, but turned it down to portrayย Warren Earpย in the 1994 filmย Wyatt Earp.ย He later appeared in episodes ofย Murder, She Wroteย andย The Wonder Years. After appearing inย G.I. Janeย (1997), he had a breakthrough performance in the 1998ย Terrence Malickย World War IIย filmย The Thin Red Line.
He was originally cast to playย Scott Summers / Cyclopsย inย X-Menย (2000), but dropped out due to a scheduling conflict with the filmย Frequencyย (2000).
He starred in the mainstream filmsย Pay It Forwardย (2000),ย The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), andย Bobby Jones: Stroke of Geniusย (2004).
He portrayedย Jesus Christย inย Mel Gibson's 2004 filmย The Passion of the Christ. During filming, he wasย struck by lightning, accidentally scourged, had his shoulder dislocated, and suffered fromย pneumoniaย andย 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 filmsย Unknownย andย Dรฉjร Vu. He played Kainan in Outlanderย (2008) and provided the voice of Jesus on the 2007ย New Testament audio dramatizationย The Word of Promise. In 2008, he starred inย Long Weekend and in November 2009, he starred inย The Prisoner, a remake of the British sci-fi series The Prisoner.
From 2011 to 2016, Caviezel starred in the CBS drama seriesย Person of Interestย 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 2014ย and again in 2016ย for his work onย Person of Interest.
In 2017, Caviezel signed on as lead character of CBS'sย SEAL Teamย series, however; he left the project due to creative differences before production began and was replaced byย David Boreanaz.
He has also narrated multiple documentaries.
