While Christian actors and actresses once seemed to be few and far between, now the outspoken nature of a few top stars, such as Chris Pratt and Mark Wahlberg, makes such people seem less rare, though still not as common as one might like. Among those speaking out about Hollywood and Christianity is actress Alexa PenaVega, who recently spoke about what causes she supports and how Hollywood tears families apart.
PenaVega is best known for her role in Spy Kids and she was, during the interview with the Christian Post in which she spoke about the marriage issue, mainly discussing her work with a non-profit called World Vision and how she got involved.
Discussing her work with that charity, PenaVega told The Christian Post, “I’ve been a part of the World Vision family for years. I have a friend who works with different charitable organizations and he reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, World Vision is doing a gift catalog this year, would you like to be a part of it? I was like, ‘Are you kidding? I’ve been giving to them for years. I would love to be a part of it!”
Continuing, she described what makes it a better charity than most, saying, “What I love about World Vision is, one, it’s a Christian organization. So they have Kingdom hearts, and they’re ready to serve in any way. Also, they want to help people to be self-sustaining. They don’t want to just give handouts and say, ‘Good luck.’ It really goes back to teach a man how to fish.”
She then noted that she and her husband realized from the start that working in Hollywood is hard on families, saying, “We realized early on — this is something I learned actually from my family growing up in the industry — is that our industry was not built for families to make it. They rip families apart constantly.”
Describing what about the movie industry is so corrosive on family life, she noted, “What happens is you leave for months at a time to go film a movie or a television show where your family grows further and further apart. The industry is truly not set up for marriage or for family.”
So why is she in the industry? Because she feels like God called her to stay involved in using her gift for acting, saying, “We really do feel called to be in this industry. We feel like God gave us gifts to be a part of this industry. But that doesn’t mean we have to do what the industry does.”
Continuing, she emphasized what that has meant for her life and her relationship with God, saying, “We’ve taken all the Kingdom aspects that we’ve learned, and it’s not easy, because there are plenty of opportunities that we’ve had to pass on or skip out on because we knew, [and pray], ‘God, I really don’t feel like you’re in this and I don’t want to be a part of it if you’re not in it.‘”
By Alexa_Vega_during_Repo_Tour.jpg: Jeff Wickliffe from Passaic Park, USAderivative work: Tabercil (talk) – Alexa_Vega_during_Repo_Tour.jpg, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6583029
