Trivia / The Passion of the Christ

• Actor Allusion: Ironically Fabio Sartor, who plays the centurion Abenader, previously played the apostle James the Great in Jesus (1999).
• Banned in China: Banned in Kuwait and Bahrain but not Malaysia as commonly reported.
• Creator Backlash: Somewhat. Jim Caviezel is not keen with The Passion of the Christ, but not to the point where he regrets working on it. This was mainly due to the struggles he went through while filming (getting struck by lightning, accidentally being scourged, having his shoulder dislocated, and suffering from pneumonia and hypothermia), as well as going hand to hand with Mel Gibson.
• Cross-Cast Role: Rosalinda Celentano plays Satan.
• Darkhorse Casting: Other than Monica Bellucci and Jim Caviezel, almost all of the cast was comprised of unknown stage actors from Europe and the Middle East.
• Development Hell: Mel Gibson announced that a sequel (focusing on Christ's resurrection with elements of The Book of Revelation) was in the works in 2016. It was initially planned for a 2021 release, but has been pushed back twice so far. As of February 2023, a target has been set for 2024.
• Doing It for the Art: Mel Gibson chose to bankroll the film with his own money, shooting it entirely in Aramaic and Latin, and originally didn't even want to include subtitles. It's easy to forget, in light of the film's huge box office draw, that this was actually a huge financial gamble.
• Dyeing for Your Art:
  • Jim Caviezel (a Traditionalist Catholic, like Gibson) had to go through extensive hair and makeup work (at times, across his entire body), and would also suffer great injuries in his performance as Jesus. He really had to carry the cross, which injured his shoulders from the weight (and once his head, as he tumbled and the whole thing fell along), got headaches from the crown of thorns, had to stay with only a loincloth in a cold environment for the crucifixion, was struck by lightning (twice), and, during the flagellation, was accidentally whipped for real at least once (ironically providing reference to the makeup crew, which had to match the injury). Thus, sometimes the expression of anguish on his face is totally real.
  • Rosalinda Celentano lived on a diet of beans and rice to give herself an emaciated appearance.
• Fake Nationality:
  • Jim Caviezel (Jesus Christ) is American.
  • Maia Morgenstern (Mary) is Romanian Jewish.
  • Hristo Shopov (Pontius Pilate) is Bulgarian.
  • Monica Bellucci (Mary Magdalene), Claudia Gerini (Claudia Procles), Luca Lionello (Judas Iscariot), Luca De Dominicis (Herod Antipas), Mattia Sbragia (High Priest Caiaphas), Rosalinda Celentano (Satan), Toni Bertorelli (Priest Annas ben Seth), Sergio Ribini (Dismas, the repentant criminal), and Francesco Cabras (Gesmas, the unrepentant criminal) are all Italian.
• Follow the Leader: The Nativity Story debuted soon after but the trend didn't progress any further, likely because it was less controversial.
• Hide Your Pregnancy: Maia Morgenstern was pregnant during the shoot, and kept it hidden from the others for a while.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Pregnant Maia Morgenstern playing the Virgin Mary, although Catholics would argue it fits with Mary's role as "Mother of the World." Also, Maia Morgenstern is Jewish, which some felt was ironic casting, given the film’s criticism that it was anti-Semitic.
• On-Set Injury: Jim Caviezel really suffered making the film. He sustained gashes to his back from multiple whippings, hypothermia, and a separated shoulder from carrying a giant cross. He was also struck by lightning before filming the Sermon of the Mount scene.
• Prop Recycling: Being filmed in the same studios of Gangs of New York, some of those film's sets were reused.
• Star-Derailing Role: The film delivered a massive blow to Jim Caviezel's mainstream film career. Since then, his political activism has helped him establish himself in the microcosm of Christian right-wing movies.
• Throw It In!:
  • During the cross-carrying scene, Jim Caviezel dislocated his shoulder when he collapsed and the cross fell on him. He insisted that the take be kept in the final film, so that the pain Jesus was supposed to be experiencing would seem more real. (Caviezel also noted how half the blood dripping from his mouth in that take is fake and the other half is his own.)
  • During the flogging scene, Caveziel was wearing a protective guard on his back while being whipped, but on the last blow, the guard slipped and he was whipped for real.
  • To prevent injury, the cross was on pads of sorts to lessen the impact as it was dropped to the ground. While recording, it actually showed the cross bouncing a couple of inches off the ground. It was left in because of its simple effect.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original plan was to have no subtitles during the whole film (whose dialogue is entirely in Aramaic and Latin). This idea was scrapped because test audiences insisted that at least the important lines should be understandable rather than make audiences do guesswork from the character interactions.
    • Subverted in DVD, Blu-ray, and most digital copies, as viewers can disable the subtitles at any time.
  • Daniel Day-Lewis was considered for Jesus, but was deemed "too European".
  • Lisa Gerrard was approached to do the score.
• Working Title: Simply The Passion.

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