Ben Harney

God gave me everything I have.

I was excited to hear others talking of God. Most people in show business have some strong spirituality but don't talk about it openly.

There are other people in 'Dreamgirls' who are born-again Christians. We have a Bible study class once a week. It was started by Charles Bernard and myself. We meet at the theater.

I won't do anything demeaning to what I stand for.

I was making $150 a week in workshop. It was a rough year. I had trouble paying the rent. But I had evenings free to spend with my wife, Olive, and our baby daughter. In terms of family-building, it was one of the most blessed years of my life.

I left acting in the summer of 1988 because I was unhappy with a lot of the irresponsibility that was going on in the entertainment industry.

I realized my calling was to use the arts and ministry to help young people.

I reached a point where - I have a real heart and concern for families and for youth, and the more I became involved in working through a ministry, the more I realized how powerful the entertainment industry was and how irresponsible it was.

When you think of the people who were important in your life, prettiness was not a factor. They might have been old, fat and toothless - but they were there.

We are living in a culture where we are so led by the visual, and what is promoted in the media, that the attitude becomes, 'I don't have to go through normalcy in life - I can look for exemptions. And I expect them, and when I look for them and they are not there, I am angry.'