12 A-listers who you never knew were religious

Tom has encountered a few different religions throughout his life, such as Christianity, Judaism, and Mormonism.

Speaking to George magazine in 1998, he revealed his extensive exposure to these faiths: “The major religion I was exposed to in the first ten years of my life was Catholicism.

“My stepmother became a Mormon. My aunt, whom I lived with for a long time, was a Nazarene, which is kind of ultra-super Methodist, and in high school, all my friends were Jews.

“For years, I went to Wednesday night Bible studies with my church group. So I had this peripatetic overview of various faiths, and the one thing I got from that was the intellectual pursuit involved. There was a lot of great stuff to think about.”

When he met and married Rita Wilson in 1988, he converted to Greek Orthodox for her, and he told Parade that his kids were also baptized in the same church. “But I still believe in being able to leave the heavens to those who want to interpret the heavens as they see fit,” he said.

Nicole and Keith regularly attend church as a family, according to an interview with Vanity Fair in 2019. The Big Little Lies actress told the publication that her friends “tease” her for her devotion to her faith, but she is constantly questioning and thinking about it. “That’s how we are raising our children,” she said.

“Keith has his own beliefs, but he comes, too. I had a very Catholic grandmother, and I was raised praying, so that had a massive impact. I wouldn’t say it’s absolutism; there’s constant questioning – I’m a wilful, feisty girl.”

“For me, it’s very important that I don’t have judgment. My dad would always say, ‘Tolerance is the most important thing,'” she finished.

It’s not hard to see the influence of spirituality on Keith’s life, too: after all, his daughters are named Sunday and Faith, and many of his songs have religious undertones, like But for the Grace of God.

According to Viola, the man upstairs granted her wishes for a husband, and she has never looked back. She explained to Oprah that one of her friends told her to simply pray for her perfect man, telling God each and every trait she wanted in her future husband.

“I went, and I got on my knees,” she laughed. “I said I want a big Black man from the South who’s probably been married before. Has kids, because I don’t want any pressure in that department.”

“Someone who’s maybe been an actor who understands the artistic community,” she continued. “Someone who goes to church and loves God. I said, ‘If you give me that, I’ll start going to church, God. I really will. I’m committed to it.’ And then I signed off, just like writing a letter.”

Three weeks later, Julius Tennon walked into her life and answered every one of her prayers, even inviting her to church; they married in 2003, and the rest is history!

Justin turned to Christianity during a tough time in his life when he was grappling with his newfound fame and growing up in the limelight. The singer was part of the Hillsong church for many years before switching to Churchome, a non-denominational Christian faith, which he and his wife, Hailey, attend regularly.

According to Hailey, religion is “the most important part” of their marriage. “Following Jesus together, being a part of the church community together. It’s everything,” she told Elle.

Justin has been adamant that while he loves his faith, he never tries to push it onto anyone else. He told GQ in 2021: “My goal isn’t to try and persuade anybody to believe in what I believe or condemn anybody for not believing what I believe.

“If it can help someone, great. If someone’s like, ‘Hey, I don’t believe that. I don’t think that’s true,’ by all means, that’s their prerogative.”

Raised by a born-again Christian, Hugh has always been religious, if not as devout as his father. “He takes his religion very seriously and would prefer I go to church,” Hugh told Parade of his dad. “We’ve had discussions about our separate beliefs. I just find the evangelical church too, well, restrictive.”

Instead, the Wolverine actor has studied at the School of Practical Philosophy, which combines Eastern and Western philosophies, which he calls “non-confrontational”.

“It’s about oneness,” he told the publication. “Its basic philosophy is that if the Buddha and Krishna and Jesus were all at a dinner table together, they wouldn’t be arguing. There is an essential truth. And we are limitless.”

He also explained how going out on stage every night is a spiritual experience for him. “Call it ‘God.’ Before I go onstage every night, I pause and dedicate the performance to God, in the sense of ‘Allow me to surrender.’ When you allow yourself to surrender to the story, to the character, to the night, to the audience, transcendence happens.”

Dwayne turned to God during a tumultuous time in his life, when his father had left him and his mother was struggling with her mental health as well as financial issues. After he was arrested at just 16, he turned to wrestling to help him on a path forward.

“At that time, I was a little unsure of what was actually going to happen, you know, so I just have to, you know, put my faith in God and continue to work hard, and hopefully, good things will happen,” he said in a red carpet interview.

“I have my own special relationship with God, you know, and I certainly feel very blessed. I count my blessings every day.”

The Moana star also credited his religion with helping him through depression, telling Oprah: “Hold onto that fundamental quality of faith. Have faith that on the other side of your pain is something good.”

The Legally Blonde star was raised in the Episcopal church, still attends church twice a week, and strongly believes in life after death, as she told the LA Times in 2020. “I believe deeply that there’s a higher power – and I don’t know what that is – but I just don’t fear dying,” she said.

“A lot of people have these repressive experiences with religion, and I didn’t. I felt this incredible acceptance and that everyone has a gift and we’re all God’s children and your purpose in the world is to find the gifts that God gave you.”

She also spoke to Chelsea Handler on her talk show about how some Christians tend to weaponize their religion for hate, which she saw growing up in Louisiana.

“I grew up, obviously, in the South, and there is amazing, wonderful connectivity, and people are loving and communitive,” she said. “But there is a tiny aspect of it, people [that] use parts of the Bible in order to express their intolerance and their hate, and they manipulate it.”

The Jesus Take the Wheel singer is outspoken about her Christian faith. She released a gospel album in 2021 called My Savior and openly discussed her faith on her show, Mike and Carrie: God & Country, alongside her husband, Mike Fisher.

“We are all flawed, and our flaws, I think, sometimes ripple out onto everybody else, but through everything, I want the people in my life that I love to know that they are loved by God,” Carrie said on the show.

“They are wanted. God wouldn’t have made any of us if He didn’t want us. I feel like that’s part of my purpose in the world. No matter who you are or what you’ve done or any of it, if I could just make everybody feel that they are loved, I feel like that’s my job.”

Carrie surprised a congregation at Rolling Hills Community Church in Tennessee this year by leading a service, a further example of her commitment to her faith.

Matthew was raised as a Methodist, and his wife, Camila, was raised as a Catholic, so religion is a significant part of their lives.

He told GQ in 2014 that he attends a non-denominational church with his family in Texas: “It’s based in the faith that Jesus is the son of God, that he died for our sins, but many different denominations come in.”

Speaking to Relevant magazine in 2020, he reiterated his belief in God and explained the importance of prayer. “Prayer is inventory,” he told the publication. “I go to church once a week. I go, I pray, and I do inventory. I take a deep breath, understand myself as me being number two in God’s house, and go back through my week.”

Jennifer grew up in a Methodist family, but her faith drifted when she moved to LA to pursue acting.

“I grew up going to church every Sunday of my life, and when I did move to LA, it wasn’t something that was just part of the culture in the same way, at least in my life. But it didn’t mean that I lost who I was,” she said in a Q&A for her film Miracles From Heaven.

After starring in the 2016 film, the mother-of-three began attending church again, this time bringing her kids, who she shares with her ex-husband Ben Affleck, along with her.

“There was something about doing this film, and talking to my kids about it, and realizing that they were looking for the structure of church every Sunday,” she said.
“So it was a great gift of this film that it took us back to finding our local Methodist church and going every Sunday. It’s really sweet.”

Jennifer revealed to Allure that she may have even been a church minister if she didn’t choose acting.

“What I like about the study of religion, it reminds me of the study of theatre – it’s really a liberal arts education. You have to understand history, geography, literature. It’s art, it’s everything. I don’t know anything about Hinduism, Islam, so many other religions, and I wish I did. That feels like a sign of respect.”