Jim Caviezel: The Power of ‘Moral Reminders’ in Film

A Beliefnet.com interview by Dena Ross with Jim Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus in “Passion of the Christ”.  He talks about his new film and how his movie roles help him grow.

(EXCERPT)  Jim Caviezel has had memorable roles in movies like “Pay it Forward,” “High Crimes,” and “Frequency,” but he is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”

In Caviezel’s new film, “The Stoning of Soraya M.”—based on the novel of the same name by French writer Freidoune Sahebjam—he plays a journalist who learns about a small Muslim community’s dark secret. Academy Award-nominated actress Shorhreh Agdashloo plays Zahara, the woman who tells the heart-breaking story of her niece Soraya.

A conservative Catholic, Caviezel spoke to Beliefnet’s EntertainmentEditor Dena Ross about why we need to be more like the Good Samaritan and his hopes for making people’s lives better through his work.

Actor Jim Caviezel

As a Christian, what was it like immersing yourself in Muslim culture for your role in the new movie? Did you learn anything new about the religion or the culture that you hadn’t known before?

Oh, it was interesting. There was a man when I first got there, he was a Sunni Muslim. He drove me around. He [brought] my luggage to my [hotel] room, and he says, “I cannot believe I’m driving the man who played Jesus!” So, right away, I thought we were in a good spot there.

But he had a very peaceful countenance to him. We had a situation where we had to go across the border, and the guards were giving us a hard time. And he had a great, calm countenance to himself, and got out of the car and basically let them have it. I was in real good hands there.

Read the full article at BELIEFNET.COM

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