While portraying an intense role, actors often invest a great deal of their passion and commitment, but few have gone to the extent that Jim Caviezel did during the filming of The Passion of the Christ, quite literally.

During the production of the religious film in 2004, Caviezel was struck by lightning not once, but twice, resulting in several unsettling injuries on the set.

Despite the challenges he faced, Caviezel persevered in his role, refusing to lose faith in the project, even if it seemed as if a divine intervention was attempting to halt his performance.

The assistant director of the film, Jan Michelini, was also struck by one of the bolts while shooting alongside Caviezel and Mel Gibson in Italy. Thankfully, according to reports from the BBC, neither of them sustained serious injuries. Nonetheless, the experience of being struck by lightning is undoubtedly far from pleasant.

Remarkably, this was not the first time Caviezel had been struck during the intense production. In a previous incident in Matera, Italy, the actor had experienced a bolt from the blue, resulting in minor burns to his fingers as he had been holding an umbrella at the time.

struck Caviezel twice during the making of the 2004 film. Credit: dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo

It was whilst cast and crew were recreating the Sermon on the Mount back in 2003, as depicted in the Bible.

However, the worst was yet to come for The Thin Red Line star and devout Catholic as filming continued.

As the film focuses on the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life, the now 54-year-old had to carry the cross as he recreated the religious figure’s crucifixion.

Whilst hanging from the cross through weeks of filming, the intense shoot took its toll on Caviezel, with the actor dislocating his shoulder and enduring numerous cuts from the chains wrapped around him.

Caviezel endured endless injury and illness on set. Credit: Marquis Films

If that was bad enough, he also got pneumonia and a lung infection due to being semi-nude for the scene – wearing nothing but a thin cloth draped over him.

He was even accidentally lashed by a co-star, who was playing a Roman soldier, whilst performing the unenviable task of carrying the cross, leaving him with a 14 inch gash in his back.

“It just extended over the board and hit me with such a velocity that I couldn’t breathe,” Caviezel told Today, adding: “It’s like getting the wind knocked out of you. The stinging is so horrific that you can’t get air.

this scene was just as gruelling as it looked. Credit: Marquis Films

Continuing, he joked: “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.”

Despite everything he experienced on set, Caviezel doesn’t seem to have lost his faith and is set to appear in a sequel to The Passion of the Christ in 2024.