At the worst it was eight hours of makeup, and I couldn't sit down; I was in this crouched position.
But I believe that when all my Jewish brothers see this film, they will realize that it's not about assigning blame.
But, you know, The Thin Red Line was my first big film - my first big lead.
Did you ever read the pope's Letter to the Artists of the World? I read it several times when I was a young actor. It was very important to me.
God gives you a talent and you have to follow through on it. Heart will get you so far - and it got me pretty far.
Growing up I wanted to play professional basketball, but I was never good enough. After finishing high school I played junior college ball for a while but my foot got injured.
Have you ever seen what homicide cops do? They go and pull out bodies from stench and go and open up the corpse, with worms and stuff inside.
He wanted to make this film very Semitic.
I didn't want to be an actor.
I do what I do, and I do it well, and focus and take it one moment at a time.
I don't really prepare for each role the same way.
I don't want people to see me - I want them to see Jesus.
I don't want people to see me. All I want them to see is Jesus Christ.
I had a strong sense of who I was, always have, and I was much happier in staying the way I am, in the way God intended me to be, instead of changing to fit my generation or the area, Hollywood, that we're always in.
I have to find people who are better people than they are actors.
I married a woman who is much better than me, I'm very fortunate to be with her and I know I'll be happy with her the rest of my life.
I needed to stay as close to home as I could, because what was important was being happy. What was important was when I found my wife.
I think you can't be passive in making this film - or in watching it.
I thought learning the languages was going to be the most difficult part.
I try to be the best man I can for the day.
I walked into the room and I was laughing at myself - who am I, where I'm from, and now I'm going in and sitting here having this huge meeting. And there's the pope sitting there in a chair with a chair next to him and I am to sit in it.
I wanted a blessing for my marriage and my family.
I wanted to be a basketball player.
I was freezing in that loincloth.
I'm - my love - I love my church. I love my church and through my church I see my country as the greatest gift God gave us, freedom.
I'm just trying to be a decent husband and potential father.
If people ask me, I don't plan on going to strip clubs, I don't want to be tempted, so I won't go there.
If you analyze it to much, that which makes you who you are just goes away. I try not to think about it too much.
In the world we make good as evil and evil as good.
It turned out the physical pain was the worst because of the cold.
Mel Gibson didn't hire me because I was a believer; he was quoted as saying he saw The Thin Red Line and wanted me after that.
Our faith is grounded in our Jewish tradition. We believe we're from the House of David. We believe we're from the House of Abraham, so we cannot hate our own.
People become lonely with time, and the fame has moved on to someone else.
The big thing is that I'd like for my generation and the generations to come, to see how bad war can be.
The goal is to make the character come to life.
Then Mel talked about doing it in dead languages, Aramaic, old Hebrew and Latin; I had to get my mind around that.
There are a lot of levels and a lot of places to grow, you know, where you get to start and end.
There was a board on my back, about a half-inch thick, so the Roman soldiers wouldn't hit my back. But one of the soldiers missed, hit me flush on the back and ripped the skin right off.
There's no broad brush applied here to any particular group. Mel says this quite frequently, that this film does not play the blame game.
They said I had fire on the left side of my head and light around my body. All I can tell you is that I looked like I went to Don King's hairstylist.
We were so in love, but I'm so much more in love with her now than I've ever been. And that is real happiness. I want to be closer to her as I get older.
We're all culpable in the death of Christ. My sins put him up there. Yours did. That's what this story is about.
What hits me more than anything is a person - how they live their personal life is more impressive to me than how they act.
When you go home, you have to be who you are; people will forget who you are and the praise will stop.
Working with Mel Gibson is a little like waltzing with a hurricane. It's always exciting, and you're never quite sure where it's going to take you.
You have to heal, you have to maintain relationships and get rid of dysfunction and neurosis.
You have to prioritize. I make sure my wife always comes first.
You know I got struck by lightning.
You shouldn't hold on to things, to neuroses. People, artists, think they have to hold on to their neuroses, their pains, or they won't be a good actor anymore or a good artist.
James’ brother-in-law, Scott Linehan, is the head coach of the NFL's St. Louis Rams.
James and wife, Kerri, adopted a 3-year-old Chinese boy named Bo.
James is married to school teacher, Kerri Browitt. They met in 1993 on a blind date and married in 1997.
In 1998, James received critical recognition for his role as ‘Private Witt’ in the film, The Thin Red Line.
James is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
In 1990, James auditioned for a role in the movie, My Own Private Idaho. He was successful in winning a small role as a foreign airline clerk, after he fooled the casting agents by telling them he was an Italian immigrant.
James graduated from Burien Kennedy High School in 1987. While attending the school, he showed his talent at sports by playing on the basketball team.
In 2001, James refused to do any love scenes with Ashley Judd while he was making the movie, High Crimes, as he declared that it conflicted with his Catholic faith.
James is extremely religious and attended his local Catholic church regularly when he was growing up.
In 1993, James was accepted into Julliard, but declined the offer as it coincided with him winning a role in the film, Wyatt Earp.
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