By Jennifer Willis
Communications Staff
Actor Stephen Baldwin was back on the GCU campus Tuesday morning, this time to speak about being a Christian in Hollywood.
Having wrapped up the shooting of a comic short he was working on with producer Maria Yano and several COFAP students, Baldwin spoke at two different times at Ethington Theatre.
“We wanted to invite Stephen here to talk about having a Christian worldview in Hollywood,” said Christian studies instructor Chip Lamca. “You don’t normally think of Christians in that setting, but they are there.”
Detailing briefly how he went from being one of Hollywood’s bad boys to a born-again Christian, Baldwin told students that everything in his past was preparing him for what God had planned for his future.
“Satan rules and owns Hollywood,” Baldwin said. “You have to be strong enough in your faith to be able to tell when you’re hearing from God and when you’re hearing from temptation. God is always opening doors for us. We just have to make sure that we have opened our eyes to be able to see them.”
Using the 1996 movie “Bio-Dome,” in which he starred with Pauly Shore, as an example, Baldwin joked about how his brother Alec Baldwin told him it would end his career. That only made him want to do the movie more.
“At that time, I had no idea that my choice to do that movie — which at the time seemed like a bad one — would end up being a tool for God,” he said. “God had a plan for me. By doing that movie, I am able to connect with younger generations, even today, and talk with them about my faith.”
Even though his acting career isn’t exactly thriving at the moment, Baldwin said he’s not done.
“I feel like I’m at a transition in my life and in my career where God is getting ready to open one of His doors for me and I just need to be ready,” he said. “I’m not going to do something just because it will offer me fame and a lot of money. I’ve turned down roles in things recently, like ‘American Horror Story,’ because it wasn’t the right fit for me and my faith.”
While some in Hollywood and the mainstream media dismiss him, Baldwin isn’t deterred.
“Nothing in my experiences thus far has been more satisfying and gratifying as my walk of faith,” he said. “I have never had so much fun in my entire life.”
Reach Jennifer Willis at 639.7383 or [email protected].
