It’s hard to be a Christian in Hollywood, according to actor Denzel Washington. Media Take Out learned that the actor is speaking out about the discrimination that Christian actors face.
In Washington’s first-person essay for Esquire, published last week, the 69-year-old actor reflected on his first influential visit to the Pentecostal West Angeles Church in Los Angeles in the 1980s at the suggestion of actor and director Robert Townsend. He wrote of the experience, “The greatest moment of my life was when I was filled with the Holy Spirit.”
The actor, who said his faith is stronger today than when he was a child, said being vocal about his religion among his peers in the industry is somewhat discouraged.
“Now I know the things I said about God when I was a little boy, just reading them along with everyone in church. God is real. God is love. God is the only way. God is the only true path. God blesses. Washington wrote in his essay, “It is my job to lift up God, to praise Him, to make sure that anyone and everyone I talk to throughout my life understands that He is responsible for me. ” “When you look at me, you see that I do the best I can with what I have been given by my Lord and Savior. I am fearless. I don’t care what anyone thinks. Look, talking about the fear part of it – you can’t talk like that and win an Oscar. You can’t talk and party like this. You can’t say that in this city.”
“I’m free now. It’s not talked about in this town. It’s not talked about. It’s not talked about. It’s not fashionable. It’s not sexy. But that doesn’t mean Hollywood People don’t believe in me,” he said.
Washington, who has been promoting his new film Gladiator II in recent weeks, expressed in the essay that he doesn’t have “a lot of actor friends” other than longtime friends of his family like Samuel L. Jackson and said that The idea of Hollywood as an institution is not entirely accurate in its experience.
“There’s no such thing as Hollywood anyway. What does that even mean? To me it means a street called Hollywood Boulevard,” he wrote. “It’s not like we all meet somewhere and discuss what we believe. So I don’t know how many other actors have faith. I did not do any poll. How will I find out? I mean, I haven’t been to any church actor meetings.”
[social_warfare]
