“I am much more cautious with the roles I take.”Last week actress Alexa Vega offered a candid interview with The Christian Post about the struggles of being Christian in Hollywood. She has been known to share her Christian faith on her Twitter account and is not ashamed to publicly profess her religious beliefs. In fact, in her interview she admits that her "faith is hands down the number one thing, above career and family."
Vega grew up attending Notre Dame Catholic High School in California, but currently describes herself as “Christian” and occasionally attends a bible study. In her interview with The Christian Post, she describes how difficult it is to be Christian in Hollywood. Vega relates how she regularly is criticized by directors who “blast [her] out of the water for it and they were very rude.” She has even turned down roles because they compromised her faith.
At the same time, she is not perfect and admits it. In the past year, Vega was cast in two movies (“Machete Kills” and “Sin City 2”), that she is not proud of and currently regrets. She confesses that "You can tell by those two roles alone I wasn’t necessarily where I wanted to be in my faith.” After filming those movies Vega said she has "grown in my faith and career and I am pickier. I am much more cautious with the roles I take, and I make sure everything makes sense and is not too sexy for no reason.”
Upcoming movies and TV shows reveal this conscious effort to choose Christian roles, as Vega stars in a Christian thriller called “The Remaining,” a movie based off of the book of Revelation. All in all, Vega desires to do what is right in an industry that is increasingly hostile to the Christian faith.
What Vega and so many other Christian actors and actresses in Hollywood need is our support and prayers. It is a spiritual battle, with the enemy trying his hardest to take down these celebrities. When you think about it, celebrities have a lot of influence on our culture and many young people look up to them as role models. Additionally, the movies and TV shows they star in have great power to change our culture for good or for evil.
For example, Catholic actor Jim Caviezel has used his influence to openly oppose embryonic stem-cell research and his wife Kerri volunteers her time at a crisis pregnancy center and is a pro-life advocate. Thankfully Caviezel is not alone, but his ability to stay strong in his faith amidst daily opposition from his peers is an attribute that few possess. Time and time again there are Christian and Catholic actors who start out strong in their values, but end up trading their faith for 30 pieces of silver.
In the end, Vega will not be the first Christian actress and she won’t be the last, but she will continually have to fight to keep her faith. Let us pray for her and others in Hollywood to stay faithful.
Philip Kosloski is a writer and digital artist living in central Wisconsin.
