By India McCarty
Jim Caviezel is studying C.S. Lewis as he prepares to reprise his role as Jesus in the upcoming THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST.
“The [book I’m reading] right now is ‘Screwtape Letters,’” he said while appearing on the “Arroyo Grande” podcast. “It’s what I’m into” (video via YouTube).
Caviezel called the Lewis book “very wise,” adding, “It’s getting me ready for THE RESURRECTION.”
“Oh. I’m really studying it. So I’m breaking it apart and going through it and getting into the thoughts of evil, you know, the antithesis of what I’m going to be playing,” he continued.
Caviezel played Jesus in the blockbuster THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST and has been open about how difficult the process was. This time, however, the actor hopes to “stay in the moment” a bit more.
“I got too far over my skis on the last one,” he admitted. However, this doesn’t mean Caviezel isn’t scared to reprise the role.
“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t want to work with that actor,” he said. “This is a war.”
During an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Mel Gibson shared THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST is “a nonlinear story.”
Related: Jim Caviezel Says Mel Gibson’s Sequel to THE PASSION Will Be “The Biggest Film Ever Made”
“It took my brother, Randall Wallace, and me about six or seven years to finish the script,” he continued. “We’ve worked with historians. All the apostles died, but nobody dies for a lie; they die for the truth. I wanted to show that.”
In a 2022 interview, Caviezel explained why he is so drawn to stories with redemptive elements that portray our need for a Savior.
“I’ve been taught from a young age that we’re flawed, and you’re going to make mistakes,” he explained to The Christian Post. “We’re broken, and we need help. Usually, the best way to get help is to ask for it. And well, who do we ask? We’re asking something better than us. And the minute you acknowledge that there is something better than you, you might get something that resembles humility, which is really the key to the whole thing.”
Caviezel also encouraged young people to stand strong in their convictions, adding, “Sometimes you’re presented with choices or put in places that are very difficult, and some of those choices are hard. You just have to examine your own conscience and take the right road, I think.…There’s no right way; there are a million wrong ways, and you just have to eliminate those or just use your best discernment to get through.”
Caviezel will begin work on THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST later this year. The movie is expected to premiere in 2026.
Read Next: What You Need to Know About THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST’s Sequel
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