And he survived.
One crew member later joked nervously, “Well… I guess Heaven didn’t want him yet.”
He reportedly whispered, “That wasn’t funny. That wasn’t a joke.”
Because lightning on a set isn’t just rare.
It’s terrifying.
And after it happened, the whispers began.
Some people saw it as a sign of God’s presence.
Others saw it as something darker.
A warning.
A kind of cosmic line being crossed.
It wasn’t only Caviezel, either.
The strangest part about the production — and the reason so many crew members still talk about it like trauma — is how many things went wrong in ways that didn’t make sense.
Equipment failed repeatedly without explanation.
Lights flickered. Cameras stalled. Microphones cut out.
A technician reportedly slammed his headset down one day and snapped, “This stuff doesn’t just die for no reason.”
Then, according to a story that has circulated for years, someone suggested they pray.
Not as a publicity stunt.
And the moment they did, the lights allegedly came back on.
A few crew members exchanged looks like they’d just seen something they couldn’t explain.
One of them muttered, “Don’t tell anyone that happened.”
Because how do you say that in 2003 without sounding insane?
Actors were affected too.
Claudia Gerini, who played Pilate’s wife, later described having recurring dreams that felt too vivid to be dismissed — dreams about Jesus that didn’t come from the script.
“I kept seeing things,” she reportedly told someone close to the production. “Scenes I wasn’t filming. Moments I didn’t read.”
Whether you believe that’s psychological spillover or something stranger, it rattled her.
She wasn’t the only one.
Maia Morgenstern, who played Mary, reportedly broke down after emotionally crushing scenes.
The moment she held Jesus’ body in the film didn’t just drain her.
People say it hollowed her out.
After one take, she allegedly sat down, shaking, and said, “I can’t do this again.”
Someone offered water.
Someone else put a blanket over her shoulders.
And Mel Gibson — the man known for intensity and temper — walked over, quieter than usual.
“You’re doing it,” he told her softly. “You’re doing it.”
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