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Denzel Washington Addresses Those 'Black Panther 3' Rumors and Talks 'Gladiator II' Oscar Buzz
Denzel Washington's faith journey is taking flight.
The Gladiator II actor got baptized and received his minister license ahead of his 70th birthday during a ceremony at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ in Harlem, New York, Dec. 21. The license would allow him to be ordained, should be choose to do so in the future.
Denzel, 69, was joined by wife Pauletta Washington, who sat in the congregation during the service, which First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ Eastern New York livestreamed on Facebook.
"In one week I turn 70," he said during the livestream. "It took a while, but I'm here."
The Oscar winner also spoke about his faith during the ceremony, and recalled that after "about the eighth or ninth time I lost an Academy Award," his late mother Lennis Washington told him that "man gives the award, God gives the reward."
Denzel also told the story of a prophecy he received from a woman named Ruth Green at the age of 20 while sitting in Lennis' hair salon.
"She said, ‘Boy, you are going to travel the world and preach to millions of people,’" he shared. "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."
The Training Day actor ended his address with a commitment to God, saying, "Anything I can do, I will do for this church, the Almighty. I just want to be in that number when the saints go marching in."
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His remarks echo what he wrote in a recent essay reflecting on his religious beliefs.
"Things I said about God when I was a little boy, just reciting them in church along with everybody else, I know now," Denzel wrote in Esquire last month. "God is real. God is love. God is the only way. God is the true way. God blesses."
"It’s my job to lift God up, to give Him praise, to make sure that anyone and everyone I speak to the rest of my life understands that He is responsible for me," he continued. "When you see me, you see the best I could do with what I’ve been given by my lord and savior."
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The Malcolm X actor went on to insinuate that discussing religion is taboo in Hollywood, but noted that he's at a point where he's "unafraid" to talk about it openly.
"I don’t care what anyone thinks," he declared. "See, talking about the fear part of it—you can’t talk like that and win Oscars. You can’t talk like that and party. You can’t say that in this town."
Keep reading for more celebs who are outspoken about their religion.
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Angus T. Jones
In a YouTube video for Forerunner Chronicles, the Two and a Half Men star not only revealed his involvement with the Seventh-day Adventist ministry, but he also trashed his hit sitcom as "filth" and urged people to stop watching it.
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Madonna
Not long after the Material Girl was introduced to Kabbalah in 1996, a group of rabbis called her devotion to Jewish mysticism "sacrilegious." But no matter—Madge remains a dedicated and outspoken follower, one whom the group credits for their sizable celebrity following.
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Tim Tebow
The hunky football star is a devout Baptist who frequently talks about his faith during public appearances. And then, of course, there's the phenomenon known as Tebowing, his trademark position in which he goes down on one knee and places a clenched first against his forehead while praying during his games.
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Tom Cruise
The movie megastar credits the Church of Scientology for helping him overcome dyslexia, but he came under fire in 2005 when he said that Brooke Shields should have treated her postpartum depression with vitamins instead of Paxil, a position promoted by the L. Ron Hubbard-founded group. Scientology rumors also surrounded the Mission: Impossible star's divorce from Katie Holmes.
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Kirk Cameron
A born-again Christian since he was 17 and starring on Growing Pains, the former teen heartthrob's faith became a hot topic earlier this year when he publicly came out against gay marriage and calling homosexuality "destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization."
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Richard Gere
The Pretty Woman actor began studying Buddhism in his twenties. He is not only a friend and supporter of the Dalai Lama, but he is also one of Hollywood's most outspoken activists for human rights in Tibet.
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Prince
The Purple One gave up performing his more risqué hits after becoming a Jehovah's Witness in 2001.
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Kirstie Alley
The former Dancing With the Stars hopeful revealed earlier this month that she credits Scientology with helping her kick a cocaine addiction when she became involved with the church more than 30 years ago.
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Stephen Baldwin
The self-described "Jesus Freak" became a born-again Christian after Sept. 11. He outlined his conversion in his 2012 memoir, An Unusual Suspect, and has become the media's go-to guy to comment on Hollywood and religion.
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Mel Gibson
The controversial Oscar winner has never shied away from talking about his strict Roman Catholicism, but his faith became headline news when he made The Passion of the Christ, his 2004 film about the last hours of Jesus' life that some critics deemed anti-Semitic. Gibson has also built a chapel on his sprawling Malibu compound and has said he prefers going to all-Latin Masses.
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John Travolta & Kelly Preston
The couple has talked openly about being Scientologists, and they were back in the in November 2012 when Preston acknowledged on The Doctors that their late son, Jett, was autistic, a condition the church doesn't recognize because they believe mental and emotional disorders aren't real ailments.
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