It’s Easter weekend, in which we mark the anniversary of Jesus being nailed to the cross by dressing up as rabbits and exchanging chocolate eggs. And in this time of worship, there’s one name that often comes to our lips. I am, of course, talking about The Beaver star Mel Gibson, whose 2004 film The Passion of the Christ retold the crucifixion story in impressively gory fashion.
Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus, recently gave an interview where he revealed that he took a real-life beating during filming. And as a devout Christian, it sounds like he loved every painful second of it.
Here’s what happened during the scene where he carries the cross:
“As I went down, the cross… it actually struck my head and buried my head in the sand. And I bit through my tongue. Now, in the tape, you’ll see streams of blood coming down from my lip. That’s actually my own blood.”
Ouch! Then the strain of carrying the cross tore his shoulder, leading to him doing the scene in excruciating pain.
“At this time, the shoulder is out and I was trying everything I had to get my arm over, and it looks like it’s the most extraordinary take because it looks like I’m cherishing our cross, which is our faith, and hugging it but in the most beautiful way. It wasn’t beautiful to me because it hurt like hell, my AC joint had been torn.”
Oof! Yet more trouble came when Caviezel was filming the moment where he was being whipped by Roman soldiers, with the actor explaining:
“I had a 14-inch gash right on my back. I ripped my hands out and walked out of the take and I fell down. But it’s an extraordinary experience because I got hit and it froze my diaphragm, which was like getting… the wind knocked out of you.”
That’s gotta hurt! Caviezel concludes that this pain was worth it for the end product, which he describes as “something beautiful that will last forever.” Less charitable people might wonder why Mel Gibson was running a clearly pretty dangerous set during production, but hey, just as Jesus suffered for us, the actor suffered for Gibson.
As we know, the Braveheart star has been working hard on The Passion of the Christ 2 for the last few years, intending to bring Caviezel back in order to tell the story of the resurrection. Caviezel says he’s seen the latest draft, too, revealing:
“It’s going to be a masterpiece. It’s gonna be the biggest film in world history, I believe it will be based on what I feel in my heart. It’s so imperative in this time. These films can’t be made now. The films they make are Marvel Comics movies. You’ll see Superman. You won’t see Jesus… I got to play the greatest superhero there ever was.”
He makes a good point. As the reaction to Avengers: Endgame proves, modern audiences won’t be happy with someone sacrificing themself to save mankind unless they’re wearing a nanotech-powered suit of armor and spouting insouciant quips. Maybe something for Gibson to think about…