SUBMITTED BY Timbo

February 19, 2004 — It was no walk in the park to play Jesus Christ, especially in a movie determined to be authentic. The actor doing the suffering, Jim Caviezel, went through hell.

Many days, Caviezel rose at 2 a.m. and spent eight hours in makeup to simulate the wounds: An eye swollen shut from a beating, the crown of thorns, welts and torn flesh from head to toe.

The prolonged scourging sequence is as agonizing to watch as the Crucifixion, when nails are driven through Christ's hands and feet. Caviezel was chained to a post with a board set up behind him to absorb the blows.

At one point, Gibson instructed the two actors inflicting the beating to hurl their lashes overhand as if throwing a baseball. Caviezel took a blow to his back after one of the actors aimed poorly.

"It just extended over the board and hit me with such a velocity that I couldn't breathe," Caviezel said. "It's like getting the wind knocked out of you. The stinging is so horrific that you can't get air.

"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. I turned to him, a couple of expletives came out of my mouth."

Moments later, Caviezel was struck again, the lash slicing the gash in his back.

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