Cavaziel: 'Shunned' by Hollywood because of Passion/ Christ

[Avalon]

His adopted 6-year-old son is dying from cancer.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0186151/news#ni10218163

Originally, I had other comments I was going to make about his acting and being "persecuted", but you know what? I'm willing to give him a pass on most anything he says right now. I can't imagine he's in full charge of his emotions or his mouth presently.

 

[Trekker4747]

Gibson wasn't outcast due to PotC he outcast because while doing the movie he went Old Testament on everyone and started in on the Jew-hating. I can't say why Cavaziel's career crashed it could be due to him just not being a good actor, not being bankable or when you play friggin Jesus it's hard to "top" that.

At the same time playing Moses hardly damaged Heston's career for the remainder of his life, even being the head of the NRA didn't harm it.

Gibson's career smashed because he went to a dark place. My presumption is Cavaziel crashed because Cavaziel isn't a good actor or applicable in many roles.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Cavaziel would have made an interesting Superman. I remember him expressing interest in "Superman Returns" and he was an internet pushed candidate I think. Passion is a great movie and he gives a moving performance in the film but yeah I don't think he was destined for A-list material after.

 

[Trekker4747]

Eh, I don't think Cavaziel is a square-jawed, mesomorph body-type, barrel-chested enough to play Superman.

He just doesn't have the right "look" for what I envision in a Superman and neither did, for that matter, Brandon Routh who had too pointy of a chin/ovicular of a head.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I never said he looked the part, I said he would be interesting as Superman. It probably would have been a divisive choice had it happened. I don't think he ever read for the part. I remember being not fond of the rumors at the time.

 

[Chaos Descending]

The Count of Monte Cristo rocked too, IMHO.

It wasn't a bad b-movie.

I can't take you seriously.

 

[Trekker4747]

I never said he looked the part, I said he would be interesting as Superman. It probably would have been a divisive choice had it happened. I don't think he ever read for the part. I remember being not fond of the rumors at the time.

Well to be Superman, an interesting one even more so, he should look the part, no? I mean I can't find Superman interesting when I'm looking at someone and saying, "Who is this skinny, pointy-chinned, goon and why is he claiming to be Superman?"

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ As I recall, Christopher Reeve wasn't that 'fit' before he first played Superman either. He underwent an intensive weight training regimen (AFAIK, supervised by David Prowse himself). If Caviezel had taken the part, he'd surely have done the same thing. And by the time filming commenced, he probably *would* have been a match for Superman's physical type.

 

[Trekker4747]

^ As I recall, Christopher Reeve wasn't that 'fit' before he first played Superman either. He underwent an intensive weight training regimen (AFAIK, supervised by David Prowse himself). If Caviezel had taken the part, he'd surely have done the same thing. And by the time filming commenced, he probably *would* have been a match for Superman's physical type.

Depends if Cavaziel is the body-type than can put on weight and muscle-mass the correct way to form the Superman physique. It's possible but even then I don't think he'd be very "Superman looking" as it's more than muscle mass and more about the facial/head look.

 

[Too Much Fun]

I really loved "The Count of Monte Cristo" and Caviezel's peformance in it. I don't understand why it flopped and why it seems to get a lot of criticism. Maybe it wasn't as powerful as the book or changed too much from it (I don't know, I haven't read the book), maybe people thought Guy Pearce was too over-the-top or that Caviezel was too bland, but I thought everyone involved did a splendid job.

The only other movie I've seen Caviezel in is "Frequency" and I liked him in that one as well. I was excited about the possibility of him being Superman when he expressed enthusiasm for the role and was disappointed when Bryan Singer didn't want to cast the guy due to him being too 'familiar' from the Jesus role as Singer wanted an unknown. I felt that was an unfair choice and Caviezel would have been a better Superman than Routh (who wasn't terrible, but seemed too young and too much like he was just aping Reeve, as he was instructed, I guess).

It wouldn't have made a difference who played Superman as long as "Superman Returns" had the same lousy script it ended up with, though, so I guess it's a good thing Caviezel didn't get the role, as his career would have suffered even worse as a result. Still, I would have been a lot more excited about "Superman Returns" (and ultimately disappointed once I saw the movie) if Caviezel had been cast in the lead instead of Routh.

 

[Worf2DS9]

I really loved "The Count of Monte Cristo" and Caviezel's peformance in it.
[...]
The only other movie I've seen Caviezel in is "Frequency" and I liked him in that one as well.

This. I have both movies in my DVD collection and enjoy them both, in part due to Caviezel's likability in the roles. I also liked him in Outlander too.

 

[Nowhere Man]

I though Passion was really good, not because of the religious aspect, but the human aspect. Seeing anyone beat to death like that is pretty moving IMO. Plus his relationship with the two Mary's was portrayed pretty good. I also liked Satan's role in the movie, it really seemed sinister, it reminded me of Palpatine. I also liked his role in Deja Vu, though it wasen't much. Sounds like he just needs to get back in the race.

 

[Aragorn]

Speaking of superhero roles, Caviezel did turn down Cyclops because he thought it was a nothing role.

Maybe he needs to do some nothing roles in big movies to get his name back out there.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Either Cavaziel is suffering for our sins, or God just might not like him and is ruining his career:

Jesus actor struck by lightning

Actor Jim Caviezel has been struck by lightning while playing Jesus in Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion Of Christ.

The lightning bolt hit Caviezel and the film's assistant director Jan Michelini while they were filming in a remote location a few hours from Rome.

Describing the second lightning strike, McEveety told VLife, a supplement of the trade paper Variety: "I'm about a hundred feet away from them when I glance over and see smoke coming out of Caviezel's ears."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3209223.stm

And perhaps it was a role Caviezel, a devout Catholic active in the religious community, was raised to play. Certainly, he was put through a physical test during five months of filming that included a brutal Italian winter. He was struck by lightning on the set. He endured daily eight-hour make-up sessions before filming the many bloody scenes of Jesus's scourging, during which he was actually hit several times; Gibson later said this allowed the make-up people to get a realistic idea of what a welt looked like.

For the crucifixion, he was tied to the cross but, as he could only hang there for 10 minutes at a time, it took days to shoot. The ordeal ended up causing him to dislocate his shoulder and aggravated a previous chest injury. He also got hypothermia from hanging on the cross in a canyon with chilling winds and suffered a spinal form of pneumonia followed by a lung infection.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/feb/29/features.review1

In that grisly scene where Jesus is being flogged, Jim Caviezel stated that he was actually struck twice. The first time knocked the wind out of him, and left a 14 inch scar on his back. The second time hurt so badly that is caused him to wrench his hand from the shackle, scraping his wrist.

During filming, Jim Caviezel (Jesus) was accidentally whipped in the back, and since the crew were filming, his real reactions were incorporated for his role onscreen.

http://www.moviemistakes.com/film4027/trivia

Hopefully Caviezel scored some points with the big man when he killed Satan in Outlander, though.





Is there really a huge difference between his career before Passion and after Passion? His pre-Passion starring vehicles in Frequency and The Count of Monte Christo were successful but not blockbusters by any means. He's had some decent roles since Passion as well, like Déjà Vu, Outlander, and The Prisoner.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'm rooting for his show with Michael Emerson (Person of Interest) to get picked up. CBS says it skews too dark, which means it would be unusually watchable for a CBS show.

Clearly, Caviezel needs to audition to play Buck Rogers or somebody!

He's perfect for Warlock, if he doesn't mind being slightly typecast.

 

[KB24]

I have to read all this in detail, but I have to say that my initial thinking is that Jim Cavaziel isn't big in Hollywood because of his own convictions. He's a really devote man who refuses to do certain things for his films. So if you are a guy who won't have nudity or sex scenes in a film, that often takes you off Hollywood's leading man lists. He's just not one to comprise himself for the sake of his acting career, first and foremost.

So secondly, the choices he's made haven't exactly helped his career, then either.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm wanting "Person of Interest" to get picked up. Believe the pilot is written by Jonah Nolan.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I heard Cavaziel actually joked about the lightning strike, looking up and asking if God didn't like the take.

 

[Aragorn]

Neal McDonough turned down some short-lived ABC summer series because he wouldn't do the sex scenes.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

The Count of Monte Cristo rocked too, IMHO.

It wasn't a bad b-movie.

I can't take you seriously.

Okay. Don't.