James Caviezel

Vital Stats:
Birth Name: James Patrick Caviezel
Born: September 26, 1968
Birth Place: Mount Vernon, Washington
Nationality: American

Bio:
A tall, good-looking rising star with piercing blue eyes, James Caviezel appeared in several stage roles in Seattle-area productions before landing his first film role as an airline clerk in Gus Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho" (1991). Moving to L.A., he quickly landed more prominent roles in films. Lawrence Kasdan tapped him to portray Warren Earp in his biographical film "Wyatt Earp" (1994). Jim Caviezel was a teammate of Matt Le Blanc's in the dreadful "Ed" and a pilot in "The Rock" (both 1996) before appearing as a recruit training for the Navy SEALs alongside Demi Moore's "G.I. More ...

Many young aspiring actors would jump at the chance to attend the world-famous Juilliard School of Performing Arts, but not so with James Caviezel, who walked away from the opportunity in search of Hollywood dreams.

Born September 26, 1968, James Caviezel grew up in Mt. Vernon, Washington. The Caviezels were a rather large family, with Jim Caviezel having one brother and three sisters. They are of mainly Irish ancestry, but the family name is actually Romansch, a language spoken primarily in southeastern Switzerland. Growing up, Jim Caviezel dreamed of being a sports star - a star player for a major league basketball team. However as things turned out, the acting bug got hold of Jim, and there was no turning back.

Although he was accepted into the prestigious Juilliard School of Performing Arts, he chose not to attend when he was offered a role in a major Hollywood movie. Unfortunately, that movie turned out to be the disappointing Wyatt Earp, headlined by Kevin Costner

.And so, with no formal training and only a marginal credit to his name, Jim Caviezel had to struggle to get his career started. After suffering through a few small roles - most notably in The Rock, where he is credited only as "Rear F-18 Pilot" - Jim finally got his second big break.

When it was announced that renegade 70s film-maker Terrence Malick was making his directorial return, Hollywood immediately started buzzing. Before you knew it, big name stars were clamoring to get in on The Thin Red Line and taking big salary cuts to do so. Everyone heard the cast rundown: Nolte, Penn, Cusack, Clooney... James Caviezel? As it turned out, Jim surprised many people by landing what could be seen as the lead role in this very unconventional film.

Despite mixed reactions to the film (viewers either loved it or hated it), Jim Caviezel had finally gotten the recognition he had been looking for. While he is by no means a Hollywood star just yet, he is well on the road to becoming one.