One thing that people do not usually associate with Hollywood is religion. Well, unless we are talking about Scientology, but many people consider that a cult (and we are not going to go there). That being said, many people grow up in totally different worlds before they move to Hollywood and for a lot of celebrities out there that world included the Mormon church. The following celebrities all were Mormon at one point in time, and they each have a slightly different story about how and why that was going on. Some of them continued on to be Mormon as adults and still pledge their commitment to the church, while some of them decided that it was not for them along the way and are no longer practicing the religion at all. Either way we bet you had no idea so let's take a look at 15 celebrities you might not know were raised Mormon.
14 Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling grew up in the Mormon faith going to the church of Latter Day Saints but does not currently practice any religion whatsoever. He has said that he never really identified with the religion. Ryan started acting when he was only twelve so it sounds like his focus has been about his acting career rather than any religious affiliation. When Ryan was given a two-year contract for the Mickey Mouse Club, he moved to Orlando to be on the show. He did not get a lot of air time on the show since he was paired with some other exceptionally talented kids. You know, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Keri Russel, and Christina Aguilera. You might have heard of them. He said the job gave him "this great sense of focus" and he became such good friends with Justin that they actually lived together for a while. Ugh how sweet, we wish we could be their roomie too!
13 Eliza Dushku
Actress Eliza Dushku was raised Mormon and no longer practices, although her family still does. When Eliza was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, her grandma used to call the showrunner to make sure that they were not asking her to do anything that was too risque. Eliza started acting when she was only ten years old. The actress started booking roles immediately after being pinpointed as a talent by casting directors. Her 1993 role in This Boy's Life alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro opened a lot of doors for her. Eliza planned to attend college in Boston but then her Buffy audition was submitted, and of course, the rest is history. Eliza was still a minor at the time so she successfully became emancipated from her parents so she could work the long hours on the show. She continued on with the franchise in the spin-off Angel.
12 Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl was raised Mormon and has strayed pretty far away from those roots. The actress once said that she would not go back because then she would have to give up smoking and drinking. There might have been some other reasons as well but she did not mention them. Katherine was not actually born into a Mormon household -- her parents converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after one of her brothers was thrown from a truck and passed away. Before that, her mom had been Lutheran and her father Catholic. Katherine started her entertainment career quite young as well. She got signed to Wilhelmina modeling agency as a child and her first TV spot was in a cheerios commercial. She started booking films not long after and ended up dropping out of high school during her sophomore year to further pursue her career.
11 David Archuleta
David Archuleta was raised Mormon and remains strong in the church today. At one point he even took two years off from his music career to serve as a missionary for the Church of Latter Day Saints and spent his time in Santiago, Chile. The American Idol runner-up actually started singing in competitions at the age of ten, which is definitely awesome. He first won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition and then became the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2. When he went on the seventh season of American Idol he was one of youngest contestants at only 16-years old. David has released six albums since one of which covered Filipino songs and was released exclusively in the Philippines. Wow six albums, who knew! He also speaks fluent Spanish. David has said that he was first inspired to start singing at the age of six.
10 Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera was raised in a Mormon home. Her parents actually met at Brigham Young University and were married in the Washington DC Latter Day Saints Temple but then got divorced later on. Christina's mom was still receiving home teachers when she was nine but it's unclear if Christina was ever formally baptized into the church. Christina and her mother have claimed that her father was abusive which led to the ending of their marriage and that Christina used music as an escape throughout that chaos. Her father has denied the claims. Christina's first claim to fame moments were on Star Search and The Mickey Mouse Club. The first time Christina tried out for The Mickey Mouse Club she was actually too young to go on and had to wait two more years to be allowed on. Her first album was released in 1999 winning her a Grammy among other things.
9 Aaron Eckhart
Aaron Eckhart grew up Mormon and did his two-year mission in France and Switzerland. Aaron grew up in Cupertino, California until the age of 13 when his family moved to the UK. While in high school they moved to Sydney, so he graduated early and then enrolled at BYU and graduated with a BFA in film. After that, he moved to New York and started out life as a struggling actor, booking plays when possible and supplementing his income with jobs bartending, bus driving, and doing construction work. He got his first major exposure when he starred in the 2000 film Erin Brockovich. Before he booked that film he hadn't worked for about a year. He has said, "I felt like I sort of was getting away from what I wanted to do as an actor. [...] I had nine months off, but it wasn't a vacation. Sure, I didn't earn any money for nine months, but every day I was reading scripts, I was producing my own material, I was taking meetings, I was working on my craft."
8 Amy Adams
Amy Adams grew up Mormon until her parents got divorced, and she has said that it was good for her. She has said, "I can't speak for everybody, but I know it instilled in me a value system I still hold true. The basic 'Do unto others...' – that was what was hammered into me. And love." Amy was actually born in Italy and lived there until her parents moved the family to Colorado when she was eight years old. Amy initially wanted to be a ballerina and chose not to go to college. She moved to Atlanta with her mom and decided that she wasn't good enough to be a ballerina. She started studying musical theatre which fit her talents and personality a lot more. Her first jobs as a teenager were working as a greeter at the Gap and then working as a waitress at Hooters. Her Hooters career only lasted three weeks but provided her enough money to buy her first car.
7 Paul Walker
The late (sob) Paul Walker was raised in a Mormon household and then converted to a non-denominational church. He was born in Glendale and attended a born-again high school. Since Paul grew up in L.A. he actually started a career in entertainment as a baby. He did his first TV commercial for Pampers and started modeling at the age of two. From there the TV shows and film roles just kept coming. It was the 1998 film Meet the Deedles that catapulted him to fame and landed roles in movies like Pleasantville, Varsity Blues, and She's All That. Later of course came the Fast and the Furious franchise. Paul sadly passed away in 2013 after a car crashed and burst into flames at a charity event. He left behind a daughter. He was still shooting one of the Fast and the Furious films at the time of his death and they finished it by using his brothers as a stand-in.
6 Julianne Hough
Julianne Hough was raised Mormon in a Utah suburbs. She has said that her upbringing was all about “No doing it before marriage, no drinking, no caffeine, no smoking, no swear words, no R-rated movies.” Julianne admitted that when she first moved to Hollywood she didn't drink at all but over time she loosened up a bit in that aspect. She drinks alcohol now but she still tries to be mindful about it as opposed to going totally crazy and is grateful that she was raised the ways that she was. She's said that her dad has a sixth sense about when she's drifting a bit far or needs to slow down on her drinks and he'll actually text her and remind her to be good. He also still asks her not to put bad words on her Instagram account because they aren't thrilled about seeing them. He also specifically asked her not to ever do Maxim.
5 Jon Heder
Jon Heder not only grew up Mormon but is still a practicing one today. The Napoleon Dynamite actor is very particular about the jobs that he accepts because of his faith. John attended the Mormon college Brigham Young University, which is where he first started making films. He did some work on a short called Pet Shop which earned an animation student Emmy in 2005. He also met Jared Hess while at school and starred in Jared's short film Peluca which was later turned into the feature length film Napoleon Dynamite. That film, of course, was Jon's breakout role and to many probably the most significant work that he's done in his career. Jon was initially only paid $1,000 for the role, and then after the success of the film he was able to renegotiate his salary to be adjusted accordingly. The low budget film made $46,118,097 in the box office and continued growing as a cult film following its release.
4 Stephanie Meyer
"Twilight" author Stephanie Meyer was born a Mormon and is still practicing today. She doesn't even drink or smoke. Her strong faith is why the characters in her books deal with issues like abstinence and spirituality. Stephanie attended BYU, which is where she got her BA in English. One of her teachers has been quoted as saying that as a student she was "bright but not overly so." Interestingly, Stephanie had never even completed a short story before writing Twilight and had zero professional writing experience in any way, shape or form. Talk about a vision coming to life out of thin air. She considered going to law school but instead worked as a receptionist until "Twilight" blew up and became one of the biggest franchises ever. While a lot of people meet their spouses while at school at BYU, Stephanie actually met her husband when she four years old and married him when she was 21.
3 Jewel
The singer Jewel was raised Mormon until the age of eight when they stopped attending the church. As an adult, she does not practice the faith. Jewel famously had a challenging upbringing. The star spent a lot of her childhood in Homer, Alaska with her dad where they didn't even have plumbing in the house. The two would sing in bars for money which is where she started learning the craft and when she started yodeling. She started writing songs at the age of 16 and then for a period of time traveled around performing and living out of her car. Jewel was actually discovered at one her coffee shop singing gigs at The Inner Change Cafe and Java Joe's in San Diego. Her debut album Pieces of You was released when she was only 21 years old. She's had four Grammy nominations and is considered a singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress, author, and a poet.
2 Roseann Barr
Roseann Barr was born to Jewish parents who tried to hide that fact and were partially involved in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has explained that "Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning I was a Jew; Sunday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday afternoon we were Mormons." How did they keep up with that schedule! Their Mormon faith seemed to have been strengthened by a single incident. When Roseann was three she got Bell's Palsy on one side of her face and her mom called upon prayer to heal her. First, a rabbi came to pray for her but nothing happened. But then when a Mormon preacher prayed for her healing she was healed immediately. However, they later learned that Bell's Palsy is temporary so that was just good timing for the guy. Either way, she continued on in the church and actually did her first stage speaking there.
1 Chelsea Handler
It might come as a bit of a shock but Chelsea Handler was actually raised Mormon, sort of. Her mom was Mormon and her dad was Jewish. She has said that "I was raised half-Jewish/half-Mormon. I was the youngest of six. At 5 years old, I was asked to pick. My sister was, like, 'Jew, Jew, pick Jew.' So I went with the dreidel." She has said that between the two she connects more with Judaism, but that she isn't super religious today either way. The outspoken and opinionated talk show host certainly does not live by the rules of the church today. Chelsea is not shy about discussing her love of alcohol or her intimate life, and the people who love her love her for it. In fact Chelsea Handler is one of the more outspoken celebrities there is and doesn't hold anything back about her personal opinions. She seemed to have found a way of living that works for her.
