Caviezel got his breakout role when he was cast in the novel, engaging thriller "Frequency" (2000), playing a present-day New York City firefighter who, by a bizarre twist of fate, is able to communicate via short-wave radio with his long-dead father (Dennis Quaid) some 30 years in the past, prompting him to try to prevent his father's tragic death in a warehouse fire. He was also especially effective as the homeless man Hayley Joel Osment takes into his mother's home in the otherwise preachy "Pay It Forward" (2000). The actor then made for a strong leading man in the well-intentioned if little-seen indie drama "Madison" (2001) playing an engineer on the hydroplaning circuit who takes it upon himself to keep his small town's annual tournament from being stolen away by much-larger San Diego. Caviezel's next turn was opposite Jennifer Lopez in the noir-ish thriller "Angel Eyes" (2001), playing a mysterious, elusive, evasive amnesiac who has a secret connection to Lopez's Chicago police officer. In a more swashbuckling mode, the actor next took on the role of Alexander Dumas' hero Edmond Dantes who after being falsely imprisoned escapes to extract his revenge in the guise of "The Count of Monte Cristo" in thw 2002 remake of the familiar tale.

After a string of haunted and tormented heroes, Caviezel assumed supportning role playing Ashley Judd's identity-switching husband who is charged with murder in the thriller "High Crimes" (2002). That was followed by another lesser-seen suspense film, "Highwaymen" (2003) playing a man who embarks on a high-octane cat-and-mouse game to avenge the death of his wife, who was struck down by a serial killer whose weapon of choice is '72 El Dorado. After that less-than-stellar choice, Caviezel's career suddenly heated up when he took on his most important--and controversial--role to date, playing Jesus Christ in driector Mel Gibson's much-debated "The Passion of the Christ" (2004). While the film sparked much heated speculation and discussion regarding Gibson's intended agenda even before it was released, it became an unexpected box office phenomenon as curious filmgoers of all religious backgrounds turned out to sample its brutal, hyper-realistic yet compelling look at the torturous savagery of Christ's Crucifixtion; many critics labeled the film's acting as beside the point given the emphasis on violence and brutality, but Caviezel's sensitive performance, one part hero and one part victim, provides an anchor for the audience and provides Christ with a human face that earns the audience's empathy.

Caviezel next took on another role of mythic--if significantly less iconic--status for "Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius" (2004), playing golfer Bobby Jones, the only player ever to win the Grand Slam, the U.S., British, and Amateur Opens and then retire from the sport at age 28.