Jim Caviezel puts his faith in ‘Paul’
He says film’s message is of ‘dignity and respect’
As the actor who portrayed Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s faith-based, game-changing film The Passion of the Christ, Jim Caviezel has earned the right to proclaim powerful biblical casting.
Caviezel draws superhero comparisons in endorsing James Faulkner ( Game of Thrones) as the apostle Paul in the new biblical story Paul, Apostle of Christ. The movie arrives in theaters March 28 and reveals its full trailer exclusively at usatoday.com.
“James Faulkner is to Paul as Christopher Reeve is to Superman,” says Caviezel. “This guy was born to play Paul. When he was walking around, it was in his behavior. You couldn’t find someone else who organically nails it like this.”
Caviezel, 49, was happy to stay off the title of his first Bible-based film since 2004’s Passion, playing Luke to Faulkner’s Paul, who wears an impressive self-grown beard.
“In Passion, I was Jesus, the central figure,” he says. “But in this film, as Luke, I (essentially) get to play Aaron next to Moses.”
Caviezel, who has starred in CBS crime drama Person of Interest since 2011, plans to return in Mel Gibson’s follow-up to Passion, which hasn’t yet set a production date. He found inspiration in writer/director Andrew Hyatt’s faithful approach to telling the story of Paul, a major figure in Christianity, but has turned down a lot of Bible stories since Passion.
“It’s like, ‘We want to change this, pull that out,’ ” says Caviezel. “I’m like, ‘This book has been around a lot longer than any of us in Hollywood. I have the faith to believe it’s still good for us now.’ That’s one of the greatest things about ( Paul). You don’t realize it, but it’s actually scriptural.”
Paul follows the final days of the apostle’s life as he’s held in a Roman prison for preaching Christianity, await- ing execution orders from Emperor Nero. He’s allowed visits from his physician, friend and fellow believer, Luke. Olivier Martinez plays Mauritius, the Roman prison prefect overseeing the prisoner.
Paul’s revered story of transformation from ardent persecutor of Chris- tians to one of the religion’s most powerful evangelical forces has renewed relevance, Caviezel says. The scene in which Paul holds Luke back from calling for righteous violence against Roman oppression speaks to the need for understanding and forgiveness.
“Forgiveness starts with not just love, but ardent love,” says Caviezel. “It’s really easy to love people who think like you think; it’s very hard to treat someone with a polar opposite view with the same dignity and respect you would treat a friend. That’s this movie’s core message.”
Rich Peluso, vice president of Sony’s faith division Affirm Films, recalls watching Caviezel and Faulkner arguing emotionally about how to handle their first scene together in the prison cell — a debate that took place in character and in costume. “The entire crew just stopped and listened to two actors barbing each other for the good of the picture,” Peluso says.
Even that was done with love, says Caviezel.
“It was a straight-up passionate argument, but done in benevolence,” he says. “Both of us were that committed. That temperature was set and it stayed throughout the film. And it made for a powerful ending.”