Is it true that someone was ...
Question: Is it true that someone was struck by lightning during the filming of The Passion of the Christ?
Answer: Yes. Actor Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004), was struck by lightning while shooting in October 2003. Assistant director Jan Michelini was struck a few minutes later. Neither man was permanently injured, but from Caviezel's description (this quote was taken from an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, but he discussed the lightning strike in many interviews), it was a pretty frightening experience. "I was doing the Sermon on the Mount….[a]nd when it happened, I saw the extras grab the ground. What they saw was fire coming out the right and left side of my head… I hear[d] Mel screaming out, 'What the heck happened to his hair?' I looked like I went to see Don King's hairstylist." Contrary to what you might think from movies, many people survive lightning strikes every year, but can suffer aftereffects for years, including memory lapses or loss, difficulty concentrating and sleep disturbances.
