Bizarre Things That Happened On The Set Of The Passion Of The Christ
Mel Gibson's biblical drama "The Passion of the Christ" both divided and shocked audiences nationwide after its Ash Wednesday release in 2004. Primarily following the final hours of Jesus' life, the film was praised for its cinematography and performances while also receiving criticism for its graphic violence and alleged anti-Semitic undertones. Regardless, it received three Academy Award nominations and remains the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time at the domestic box office.
Despite those prestigious Oscar nominations, "The Passion of the Christ" is quite different than your typical biblical epic. In addition to all the unrestrained gore, Mel Gibson's movie has its fair share of bizarre moments. (Is there really a part of the Bible in which Satan carries around a little person? We definitely don't remember learning about that back in Sunday school.) And as surreal as things can get during the movie itself, there were also quite a few bizarre happenings behind the scenes — some of which you might not even believe.
The Passion of the Christ suffered multiple lightning strikes
According to a 2008 study by Ronald L. Holle, lightning strikes roughly 240,000 people per year. It's fairly rare, in other words — but it happened three times on the set of "The Passion of the Christ."
Lead actor Jim Caviezel has claimed he was "lit up like a Christmas tree" while filming the Sermon on the Mount sequence. "I knew it was going to hit me about four seconds before it happened," the actor told "The 700 Club." "I thought, 'I'm going to get hit.' And when it happened, I saw the extras grab the ground." Caviezel said that after the strike, fire was coming out of his head and his body was illuminated — though the cameras hadn't yet finished panning over to his position. "By the time the cameras got to me," Caviezel recalled, "I hear Mel [Gibson] screaming out, 'What the heck happened to his hair?' I looked like I went to see Don King's hair stylist."
"Five minutes after I got hit," Caviezel said, "Jon Mikalini, an assistant, walks over and says 'Are you okay?' And then he got hit. The difference was that they saw the bolt come down and hit Jon. ... All I felt was this giant tremendous slap on my ears and a few seconds of a pink, red static in front of my eyes." Unbelievably, that wasn't the first time the assistant director had been struck on set, as he'd already been the victim of Mother Nature when lightning hit his umbrella — luckily only causing light burns on his fingertips. What are the odds of that happening? An astronomical 1/11,728,889,000,000 if you live in the United States.
The scourging scene was incredibly painful
Because you can't exactly flay the skin off your star in real life, a hidden whipping post was set up behind Jim Caviezel while filming "The Passion of the Christ's" notoriously bloody scourging scene. Problem was, one of the actors doing the flogging didn't have the best aim when swinging overhand. "[His lash] just extended over the board and hit me with such a velocity that I couldn't breathe," Caviezel recalled to Today. "It's like getting the wind knocked out of you. The stinging is so horrific that you can't get air."
Unsurprisingly, Caviezel wasn't happy. "I turned around and looked at the guy, and I tell you, I may be playing Jesus, but I felt like Satan at that moment ... a couple of expletives came out of my mouth." Some good that did. Moments later, Caviezel accidentally received another blow. Nobody ever said playing Our Lord and Savior would be easy.
The crucifixion scene was a nightmare to shoot
Not only did Jim Caviezel get struck by lightning and endure a couple misplaced lashes, he also dislocated his shoulder during one of the movie's most brutal scenes. The accident happened while the actor was carrying the film's massive crucifix. According to the cross-bearer himself, the wooden construction weighed 150 pounds, but it seemed like a whole lot more. "It feels like 600 pounds as the day goes on," Caviezel told Fox News.
Unfortunately, the "Passion" star's shoulder popping out of place was just the start of his misery. "Later they stick you up on a cross in 25-degree temperatures with 30-knot winds," Caviezel explained. Filming almost naked in such frigid conditions nearly gave the actor hypothermia, and it succeeded in giving him a lung infection and pneumonia. Who would've thought that recreating the world's most famous execution would've been so difficult? But hey! At least he didn't get migraines, right?
Holy mother of migraines
Just to add the icing on Jim Caviezel's painful cake, the actor regularly suffered severe migraines from working day in and day out with one eye cosmetically swollen shut.
That deformed eye came courtesy of spending a ton of time in a makeup chair. Caviezel's alarm went off a 2 AM in order for the film's makeup artists to cover him in cosmetic bruises, cuts, lashes, gashes, and copious amounts of fake blood. On more than one occasion, it took eight hours for the long-suffering star to get ready for the day's gory work. The makeup crew also had to arrange his crown of thorns and seal one eye shut — which wreaked havoc on his depth perception. "You are going to work every day with only one eye functioning," he told Fox News, "which gives you headaches."
And you thought eye strain from your office job was bad?
The movie was a religious experience for those on set
Filming "The Passion of the Christ" had a pretty profound effect on many people involved in the production, and the film's set became the site of some religious conversions. Legionary Father John Bartunek told National Catholic Register, "Everyone felt comfortable talking about issues of faith. Being a priest in the midst of that, I was like a lightning rod for spiritual conversations." (Don't worry, he wasn't actually struck by lightning.)
One actor who converted from being a self-proclaimed "angry atheist" was Luca Lionello, the actor who plays Judas. Near the end of production, Lionello accepted the film's title character as his lord and savior. "He asked for confession," Bartunek explained. "Apparently he had been completely transformed by the experience. He baptized his children, sanctified his marriage and came back to the Church."
Not only did the film have a profound effect on the atheist actor who played Judas, it affected a cast member of the Islamic faith. "One of the guys working on the film was a Muslim," Jim Caviezel told "The 700 Club." "He was one of the guards who beat me, and he converted. He had a real big experience there, you know?"
Naturally, not everyone who worked on the set of "The Passion of the Christ" experienced a religious epiphany — but most people were affected in one way or another. "All the actors that worked on this film ... it will stay with them the rest of their lives," Caviezel claimed. "People will always come up to them, people will always ask them about the movie they were in, it will always be with them."
What happened after filming The Passion of the Christ?
During the filming of "The Passion of the Christ," Jim Caviezel had to endure accidental lashings, a dislocated shoulder, pneumonia, a lung infection, persistent migraines, and getting struck by lightning — but the bad luck didn't end there. Once filming wrapped and the movie made millions worldwide, Caviezel's career essentially died after "The Passion of the Christ."
In addition to calling Mel Gibson "a horrible sinner," Caviezel has claimed he's been blackballed by Hollywood for playing Jesus. In fact, he's recalled Gibson trying to talk him out of it only moments after offering him the controversial role. "He said, 'You'll never work in this town again,'" Caviezel told a congregation at First Baptist Church of Orlando. "I told him, 'We all have to embrace our crosses.' ... We have to give up our names, our reputations, our lives to speak the truth."
Granted, Caviezel found success on TV with "Person of Interest" and later portrayed Tim Ballard in the surprise indie hit "Sound of Freedom." Still, he never went on to A-list stardom, but perhaps he needs to resurrect his most famous role. Mel Gibson has long talked about making a "Passion" sequel focused on Christ's resurrection, and naturally, Caviezel wants to return to play Jesus. "I won't tell you how he's going to go about it," Caviezel told USA Today in 2018. "But I'll tell you this much, the film he's going to do is going to be the biggest film in history. It's that good."
With plenty of bizarre happenings taking place on the set of the original, we can only imagine what's in store for the sequel — although we're definitely hoping for fewer lightning strikes.