James Patrick Caviezel, Jr. ( ; born September 26, 1968) is an American film actor, sometimes credited as Jim Caviezel. He is perhaps best known for playing the part of Jesus Christ in the 2004 Mel Gibson film The Passion of the Christ and Private Witt in The Thin Red Line.

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 are 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 Burien, Washington where he was a star on the basketball team and graduated in 1987. While at O'Dea and Kennedy, he stayed with family friends. Following high school, Jim enrolled at Bellevue Community College where he again 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 (1991). 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 (1992) and Wyatt Earp (1994) and guest starring roles on "Wonder Years, The" (1988) and "Murder, She Wrote" (1984). 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 Thin Red Line, The (1998). The following year, he gained further recognition with roles in Ride with the Devil (1999/I) and Frequency (2000). In 2001, his role as Jennifer Lopez (I)'s love interest in Angel Eyes (2001) helped to establish him as a versatile actor and leading man. It wasn't until 2002 that Jim made his strong religious beliefs known. While filming High Crimes (2002), 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 when he was chosen by Mel Gibson (I) to star as Jesus Christ in the upcoming, controversial film Passion of the Christ, The (2004). The film went on to become one of the highest 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 and their adopted Chinese son, Bo.

Born on September 26, 1968 and growing up in Mount Vernon, Washington, acting was far from Caviezel's mind. After a foot injury in his sophomore year in college ended his dreams of becoming an NBA basketball professional, he became interested in acting. He auditioned for a small part as an Italian ticket agent in Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho (1991). He landed the role by fooling casting agents into believing he was a recent Italian immigrant. Caviezel then moved to California and shortly thereafter was cast as one of the ten boxers in Michael Ritchie's con caper, Diggstown (1992). In 1993, he declined his acceptance to Julliard because he had won the role of Kevin Costner's youngest brother in Wyatt Earp (1994). Early work brought him little attention, including Michael Bay's Rock, The (1996), Ridley Scott's G.I. Jane (1997), Ang Lee's Civil War story Ride with the Devil (1999/I), Mimi Leder's Pay It Forward (2000), though he came to critical attention in Terrence Malick's Oscar-nominated Thin Red Line, The (1998). In 2000 he starred in his first scifi time travel adventure, Frequency (2000) with Dennis Quaid. But his first big break came when he met with producer Stephen McEveety and actor Mel Gibson (I) to discuss a role in a surfing movie. He later found they wanted to cast him as Jesus in the movie Passion of the Christ, The (2004). The movie made headlines and broke box-office records around the world. Although the movie dealt with controversial matters, Caviezel's performance was acclaimed by both critics and viewers. From an outcast actor to a respected film star, James Caviezel is continuing to give his best to play challenging roles.