JamesG
05-03-2011, 06:03 PM
Caviezel: 'Playing Christ Cost Me My Acting Career'
May 3, 2011
Movie star Jim Caviezel has accused Hollywood of turning its back on him for playing Jesus Christ.
The actor played Jesus in religious epic The Passion of the Christ in 2004, and reveals director Mel Gibson warned him the iconic role would wreck his acting career.
Appearing at the First Baptist Church of Orlando in Florida on Saturday night to promote an audio production of The Bible that he produced, Caviezel revealed:
"Mel Gibson said, 'You'll never work in this town again.' I told him, 'We all have to embrace our crosses...' I told him, 'Mel, this is what I believe.
We all have a cross to carry. I have to carry my own cross. If we don't carry our crosses, we are going to be crushed under the weight of it. So let's go and do it.' And we began with the film."
Caviezel admits good roles have been hard to come by ever since he starred in the movie and said he was "rejected in my own industry" after taking the role.
He went on to tell the audience, "Jesus is as controversial now as he has ever been. Not much has changed in 2,000 years."
While The Passion of the Christ was a box-office smash Jim Caviezel blamed all of the backlash against the film (Mel Gibson's anti-semitic rants) for why his career came to a sudden halt.
Before taking the role of Jesus Christ he starred in The Count of Monte Cristo, Angel Eyes and Frequency; and he was considered to be a highly sought out star of the time.
-IMDB News
May 3, 2011
Movie star Jim Caviezel has accused Hollywood of turning its back on him for playing Jesus Christ.
The actor played Jesus in religious epic The Passion of the Christ in 2004, and reveals director Mel Gibson warned him the iconic role would wreck his acting career.
Appearing at the First Baptist Church of Orlando in Florida on Saturday night to promote an audio production of The Bible that he produced, Caviezel revealed:
"Mel Gibson said, 'You'll never work in this town again.' I told him, 'We all have to embrace our crosses...' I told him, 'Mel, this is what I believe.
We all have a cross to carry. I have to carry my own cross. If we don't carry our crosses, we are going to be crushed under the weight of it. So let's go and do it.' And we began with the film."
Caviezel admits good roles have been hard to come by ever since he starred in the movie and said he was "rejected in my own industry" after taking the role.
He went on to tell the audience, "Jesus is as controversial now as he has ever been. Not much has changed in 2,000 years."
While The Passion of the Christ was a box-office smash Jim Caviezel blamed all of the backlash against the film (Mel Gibson's anti-semitic rants) for why his career came to a sudden halt.
Before taking the role of Jesus Christ he starred in The Count of Monte Cristo, Angel Eyes and Frequency; and he was considered to be a highly sought out star of the time.
-IMDB News