James Patrick Caviezel was born on September 26, 1968 in Mount Vernon, Washington. He was one of five children born to Jim and Maggie Caviezal. The Caviezels were an close knit Catholic family.

As a youngster, Jim was described as being "very intense". His two main interests growing up were sports and religion. He was athletically gifted on the basketball court and dreamed of someday playing in the NBA. He also learned the importance of Christianity at a very young age, attending Church regularly with his family.

In 1984, he went to Mount Vernon High School but transferred to O'Dea High School after two years. The following spring, he transferred again to Burien Kennedy High School in Seattle where he starred on the basketball team until graduating in 1987. While at O'Dea and Kennedy, he stayed with family friends.

Following high school, Jim enrolled at Bellevue Community College where he played on the basketball team. A foot injury in his sophomore season put an end to Jim's basketball career and his dreams of playing in the NBA. Shortly after his, he turned his focus toward acting.

In 1990, he auditioned for a part in the independent film My Own Private Idaho. He won a very small role as a foreign airline clerk after he told casting agents that was a recent Italian immigrant.

The following year, Jim moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a waiter between auditions. He landed small roles in Diggstown and Wyatt Earp and guest starring roles on The Wonder Years and Murder, She Wrote.

He continued to go relatively unnoticed in small roles and even thought about quitting acting until 1998 when he received critical recognition for his role as idealist Private Witt in The Thin Red Line. The following year, he gained further recognition with roles in Ride with the Devil and Frequency. In 2001, his role as Jennifer Lopez's love interest in Angel Eyes helped to establish him as a versatile actor and leading man.

It was until 2002 when Jim began to make his strong religious beliefs known. While filming High Crimes, he refused to do any love scenes with on-screen wife Ashley Judd because it conflicted with his strong Catholic faith. It was also around this time where he was chosen by Mel Gibson to star as Jesus Christ in the upcoming, controversial film The Passion of the Christ. The film went on to become one of the high grossing movies of all-time and made Jim a household name.

Off screen, Jim lives with his wife, Kerri, a school teacher whom he met on a blind date in 1993 and married in 1997.


Grew up in a tight-knit Catholic family. His father is Jim and his mother is Maggie. He has three sisters, Ann, Amy and Erin, and one brother, Tim. His surname is Swiss Romansch (Rhaeto-Romanic). Played basketball in college, but took up acting after injuring his foot. Refused to film a love scene with on-screen wife Ashley Judd for their film, High Crimes (2002). The idea of possible nudity conflicted with Jim's personal beliefs, based on his strong Catholic faith. Received an honorary degree from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA at their commencement on 18 May 2003. Gave a fire-and-brimstone speech based on his interpretation of Catholicism. His co-star Elizabeth Mitchell who played his mother in Frequency (2000) said about him, "Jim is the perfect son, if I had a son like him I would be a very proud mother." Shortly after accepting the role of Jesus Christ in the Mel Gibson film, The Passion of the Christ (2004), he realized his initials were the same as that of Jesus (J.C.) and that he was the same age most historians and religious scholars claim Jesus was when he was killed (33). Surname pronounced ka-VEE-zel. Was a waiter and did some modeling for The Gap early in his career. Writes left-handed, but is ambidextrous (uses both hands). Once on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992) said when asked by fans if he was Jesus Christ, he responds by saying no, but that he is the Count of Monte Cristo. He attended the University of Washington and USC He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Adopted a 3-year-old Chinese boy named Bo and a girl from the Ghangzhou region. After the success of The Passion of the Christ (2004) he was asked to be a spokesman for the Heavenly clothing line but he refused because he felt it would be an insult to people who felt that the film had something meaningful to offer. Jim's brother-in-law, Scott Linehan, is the former head coach of the NFL's St. Louis Rams (2006-2008); Jim's wife (Kerri) and Scott's wife (Kristen) are sisters. Appeared as an uncredited "extra" basketball player in scenes filmed at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in the film Blue Chips. While filming the whipping scene in Passion of the Christ, one of the whips missed the steel board on Jim's back and cut a 13-inch gash into his back.