Christian Actors

Message / Question

I'm a Christian actress and I find it hard to know the difference between what you can do with "artistic license". For example, is swearing wrong? What about fake marriages? What about promiscuous clothing? Where do you draw the line?

Response

I appreciate that it is a very difficult situation that you find yourself in – what can you do to further your career without compromising your faith.

It is a hard question to answer because “acting” takes many forms. There is a vast difference between a theatre that presents only classics such as Shakespeare’s plays and TV shows that glorify sex and violence. Both involve actors and actresses, but the impact on the performers and the audiences is quite different. Christians considering a career in acting or performing must consider the effect that their roles will have on themselves spiritually, the lifestyle into which they will be entering, and the influence their performances will have on others when they play a part that contains evil and sin. A Christian may act in a role that truly in clearly sinful, yet claim that this is not them, it is merely the character that they are playing. Is this a reasonable response? There has never been an easy answer to that question.

Many in the early Church believed that one could be an actor or a Christian, but not both. John Chrysostom in his homily on Matthew refers to dancers taking watchers to a place of lust.

So, one problem is the role that Christian actors must often portray, the other problem is the effect that your role may have on the audience. If a young Christian who knows you, sees you acting in a role that is clearly compromising to Christian faith, they may be tempted to imitate you – if it’s all right for you (the actor) to do this, then it must be OK for me too. The overriding principle involved is found in 1Corinthians 10.31: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." As an actor, you appreciate the role and value of the audience. I once contemplated Shakespeare’s line “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely actors, each one has their entry and their exit...” and I asked myself this question – if all the men and women are on the stage as actors, then who is in the audience? As I thought of this, I realised that there is an audience – an audience of one and that is God Himself. I am left with this haunting question: does my audience of one appreciate my role in what I am doing now? So, as an actor, would you be happy to have Jesus sitting in the front row of the theatre watching you play your role?

I am not one of those who is against “worldly entertainment”, whether live, movie, or TV. But, like many others, I question where the limits are for the Christian actor. There is no easy answer. I’d love to see more Christian movies, but how can that happen without actors and how can actors learn their “craft” without involvement in no Christian “entertainment”? Everyone wants Christians to play the heroic detective who fights against criminals. But, what if a Christian is asked to play the criminal or the prostitute that the detective goes to when some “on the ground” info is needed? Should a Christian portray a violent and sadistic murderer? You see the problem! Unfortunately, I do not see the solution.

Ultimately, the decision to enter into a career in acting or entertainment must be made prayerfully, seeking God’s wisdom (James 1:5) and the counsel of mature Christians. But always remember, whatever you do in life as a Christian, you are playing to an audience of one who will one day give your role an all important review – I want my review to read “Well done, good and faithful servant”.