Top 5 stories that defined Christian entertainment in 2024
2. High-profile baptisms: Russell Brand and Denzel Washington
Hollywood witnessed a notable spiritual shift this year as celebrities including Russell Brand and Denzel Washington made public declarations of their Christian faith.
Brand, a 48-year-old actor and comedian, was baptized earlier this year following a personal exploration of Christianity that lasted several years. He began baptizing others just five months after his own baptism.
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Brand’s baptism was a turning point for the comedian and actor, who described it as “a moment of surrender.” Since then, he’s used his platform to publish videos about his spiritual journey.
"I know a lot of people are sort of cynical about the increasing interest in Christianity and the return to God, but to me, it's obvious," he said in an April video. "As meaning deteriorates in the modern world, as our value systems and institutions crumble, all of us become increasingly aware that there is this eerily familiar awakening and beckoning figure that we've all known all of our lives, within us and around us. And for me, it's very exciting."
Washington, a longtime believer and Academy-Award winner, reaffirmed his faith in a deeply personal ceremony: in December, the 69-year-old “Gladiator II” actor was baptized at The First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ Eastern New York.
“In one week, I turn 70. It took a while, but I’m finally here,” he said at the time, adding that when he was 20, he was sitting in his mom's beauty parlor when he encountered a woman named Ruth Green.
“She said, ‘Boy, you are going to travel the world and preach to millions of people,’” he recalled. “She wouldn’t even spell the word prophecy. My mother wrote the word prophecy ... 50 years later, look at God. If He can do this for me, there’s nothing He can’t do for you. The sky literally is the limit and there’s no limit to the sky.”
In a November essay for Esquire, the actor said he was “unafraid” of the public's reaction to his faith, adding, “I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
“See, talking about the fear part of it — you can’t talk like that and win Oscars,” he said at the time. “You can’t talk like that and party. You can’t say that in this town … I’m free now.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
