Appearing on Raymond Arroyo’s YouTube channel, Caviezel – a devout Roman Catholic – addressed his suffering on the set of The Passion of the Christ. The actor shared: “It was okay, though, because it was part of the purpose of why I was born. I take it very seriously… Am I scared [for the sequel]? Yes! But if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t want to work with that actor because you’re not ready and this is a war.” As for what was different about playing a victorious Jesus rather than the suffering one, the star shared which classic Christian book is getting him prepared to shoot The Resurrection of the Christ.
Caviezel has spent Lent reading CS Lewis’ satirical book dedicated to JRR Tolkien about a senior devil called Screwtape writing to his nephew Wormwood, helping the junior demon ensure the damnation of a British man.
The Jesus star, who also plays King Herod in a new movie this Christmas, said of preparing for The Resurrection of the Christ: “I read about it today in The Screwtape Letters. Don’t worry about the future. The past is dead. It’s locked. The divine light coming through in the present moment. Now we know of eternity, that’s coming someday. But it’s staying in this moment. It’s hard to do when you do that. You know that one’s coming and I know the day of reckoning is coming…. It’s getting me ready for Resurrection. I’m really studying. So I’m breaking it apart and going through it, getting into the thoughts of evil y’know. The antithesis of what I’m going to be playing. How Jesus works is so simple.”
On his personal demons, Caviezel confessed: “The devil’s already doing to what he has to do to me right now. Now there’s protection there but there’s enough… God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit and all of Heaven is already guiding this right now… Of course I am [worried]. But I was worried on the last one. Did I fail? I will fail if I get too far out over my skis. I have to really, really stay in this moment… I want to enjoy this one more than I did the other one. I got too far over my skis on the other one. I was concerned that it was not in Aramaic.”
This confirms what Gibson has previously said about maybe shooting The Resurrection of the Christ in English, instead of Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin.
Caviezel added: “But I really do trust what Mel has. Just because I don’t do it in Aramaic doesn’t mean that Jesus goes away. I won’t do it without the sacraments and that’s everyday. Every day is the sacraments.” During filming on The Passion of the Christ, a local priest visited the star daily for counsel, Confession, and Holy Communion.
Asked what his greatest fear was, he said: “The [new] film [is my] greatest fear. I worry for my children, my family. I’m a good husband, good father. I’m not the best father I want to be and I’m not the best husband I want to be.”