Stephen Baldwin: Hollywood Rejects Me as a Christian, Producers Say No to 'That Guy and His Bible'
Actor Stephen Baldwin has opened up about the rejection he feels from Hollywood, both due to his Christianity and his support for President Donald Trump, with producers openly saying they don't want him and his Bible around.
Baldwin's interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday served to promote his "Great American Pilgrimage" TV series, where the actor travels across the U.S. talking to Americans about the state of the union, and delved into his support for Trump and his faith.
Baldwin said that he's known as the "Jesus freak of Hollywood," which both does and doesn't bother him.
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"It's unfortunate that because I have believed in Jesus for 15 years that there are many in Hollywood who are unwilling to work with me. That's not a guess. Casting people and producers have told me that they've brought up my name in a room and the response was, 'No way, we're not bringing that guy and his Bible over here,'" the actor said.
As to whether his Christianity or support for Trump has hurt his career more, he replied: "Humor was invented by Jesus. Please put that in the interview so all those fabulous people in Hollywood can read that Baldwin said Jesus invented humor. But this is why I'm doing 'American Pilgrimage,' because we all connect through humor, but we're losing that joy, that irony of laughing."
Later he responded specifically to the question: "The answer is, of course, Jesus. But President Trump is a not-too-far-behind, very close second."
The actor, known for hit films such as "Born on the Fourth of July" and "The Usual Suspects," among others, said that there is a surprising number of people in Hollywood who do support Trump, though can only do so secretly.
"I have really smart friends who are succeeding quite well as producers, writers and financiers, and they hold conservative views but they cannot speak their minds — at all," he argued.
"There's a large constituency in Hollywood who voted for Trump but will never admit to that."
Baldwin, who became a born-again Christian after the 9/11 terror attacks, told The Christian Post back in April that he believes Trump will do great things in office.
"The truth is I've said a whole bunch of things about President Trump before he was elected and after. I just have always believed that he was the guy that God had in mind for this time," Baldwin told CP at the time, while promoting his film "Heaven, How I Got Here: A Night With the Thief on the Cross."
Other Christian actors in Hollywood, such as Jim Caviezel, who famously played the role of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson's epic "The Passion of the Christ," have also said that they've been rejected by the industry.
"All of the sudden I stopped being one of five most popular actors in the studio, and I hadn't done anything wrong. I just played Jesus," Caviezel told Polish journalist and film critic Lukasz Adamski in an interview earlier this year.
"Was I personally affected by this rejection? Well, everyone has their cross to bear. The world changes ... but I will not be in this world forever. Neither will the producers from Hollywood. At some point, everyone will have to answer for what they have done," he added.
