Stars Who’ve Gotten Candid About Their Religious Beliefs

Diane J. Cho was the Features Editor of PEOPLE Digital from 2019 to 2022. She worked at the brand for nearly four years covering news, features, human interest, evergreen, holiday gift guides and more. She launched the How I Parent and What It’s Really Like to Be …. digital series and has interviewed several celebrities and influential leaders within the entertainment industry. Prior to joining PEOPLE, Diane worked at Bustle, VH1 and Complex. She received her bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Rutgers University and her master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School.

Published on January 24, 2020 04:10 PM
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Aaron Rodgers

The Green Bay Packers quarterback discussed his Christian upbringing and when he first began to question his faith on girlfriend Danica Patrick’s Pretty Intense podcast.

“Most people that I knew, church was just … you just had to go,” Rodgers recalled before diving into his experience after discovering other religions.

“I started questioning things, and had friends who had other beliefs – I enjoyed learning, that’s kind of a part of my life,” the Super Bowl XLV champion said.

“I had some good friendships along the way that helped me to figure out exactly what I wanted to believe in,” he continued. “Ultimately, it was that rules and regulations and binary systems don’t really resonate with me.”

This realization eventually led Rodgers down a path to a “different type of spirituality,” he explained, before airing out his doubts, saying, “I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a fiery hell.”

He added: “What type of loving, sensitive, omnipresent, omnipotent being wants to condemn his beautiful creation to a fiery hell at the end of all this?”

Stephen Baldwin

The actor and father of model Hailey Baldwin told TMZ in August 2019 why it was important for Hailey and new son-in-law Justin Bieber to have their religious second wedding.

“I just think that as Christians and as believers they understand that if you don’t have the God’s spirit working in your marriage it just makes it more and more difficult to make it work and have peace and find happiness,” he told the outlet.

“Weddings and marriage are supposed to be a holy commitment, one onto another,” he added.

Chris Pratt

As a proud Christian, the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom actor told the Associated Press in 2018 that he feels “called” to talk about religion.

“That kind of message, it might not be for everybody,” he said. “But there is a group of people for whom that message is designed. And nothing fills my soul more than to think that maybe some kid watching that would say, ‘Hey, I’ve been thinking about praying. Let me try that out.’ “

“That’s the only way I feel like I can repay what has essentially been a giant gift in my life,” he added.

When asked if his faith had ever become a “risk” in Hollywood, he said, “I think that there’s this narrative that exists out there that Hollywood is anti-Christian or anti-religious, but it’s just not the case.”

“They are kind of not anti-anything. They are kind of pro whatever is authentic to you,” he continued. “And I like that. Because it’s authentic for me to be pro-Christian, pro-Jesus. That’s my thing. I like it.”

He added, “I’ve never had anyone try to shame me, to my face. Maybe they go say it behind my back. But if that’s the case, go ahead. You can say whatever you want about me – to my face or behind my back. I’m not going to change.”

Amber Heard

Coming out as bisexual to her religious parents was not easy for the Aquaman actress. Heard spoke at the Making Change On and Off the Screen panel at SXSW in March 2019 about how her parents were initially unable to process the news of her sexuality because of their faith.

“I am from Austin, Texas. My dad is out of central casting Texan. Good Southern man, and I was raised in a religious home,” she began. “And being an outspoken lesbian, atheist, vegetarian, I remember when I told them about my relationship, that I was in love with this woman, and at the beginning of that it was just tears, tears.”

“They didn’t know how to process it because, for them, it was being thrown into a binary system of processing it, negative or positive,” she continued.

“Five years later, I was getting an award, and I asked my parents to drive out to Dallas,” she said. “And I see them sitting front and center and here I am getting this ‘gay’ award …”

She concluded her story by saying, “My parents in five years, look at the journey. Attitudes and hearts can change.”

Kristen Bell

The actress opened up about her up-and-down relationship with her mother, Lorelei Bell, on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast in September 2018.

Bell described Lorelei as “very religious” and a “born again Christian.” The actress doesn’t subscribe to a faith, which became a point of contention between the two.

“I think it’s hard for her to digest [that I’m not religious], and I don’t really like to talk about it a lot because when I’m talking about it all I feel is that I’m disappointing my mother, which is an awful feeling,” Bell said.

“Also, she lives in Michigan and there’s a different bubble out there than there is in California. I’m a lot more open about very taboo subjects in general,” she added. “I think that is just different to her.”

Their differences in opinion also impacted Bell’s method of raising her two daughters with husband Dax Shepard.

“I don’t know this, but from my perspective, I believe she was upset we didn’t baptize our kids,” she said. “From my perspective, I was like, ‘Let me tell you something. My child is not going to heaven or having an afterlife based on some man pouring water over her head.’ “

When asked by Maron how her mother reacted, Bell simply said, “She accepted it.”

Mayim Bialik

“I think in general it’s never going to be trendy to be observant or religious in Hollywood circles,” Bialik told Fox 411 in 2015.

“I’ve gotten a lot of negative attention for visiting Israel,” she said, referencing a trip she went on to see a friend who was in the Israel Defense Forces. “That’s what’s amazing. Simply by going to Israel this summer and saying nothing more than, ‘I’ve gone to Israel,’ I got the same amount of hatred and threats and anti-Semitism for actually making a statement trying to support people [who] whether I like it or not are serving in an army.”

“That reveals the truth,” she continued. “It really doesn’t matter what I support or believe; the fact that I’m Jewish and go there is enough – that should be alarming to most people.”

Giuliana Rancic

After having a double mastectomy in 2012, following her breast cancer diagnosis, the star told PEOPLE that her life had improved in so many ways. One of those ways was by becoming more religious.

“We go to church every Sunday. And we did before, but it never meant as much as it does now,” Rancic said of herself and husband Bill Rancic.

“We prayed on our own, but now we prayed together and you’ll never know how much that means until you do it,” she continued. “Bill and I have changed our lives in that one way.”