Hello all, I'm Stewart and I must say this is a very interesting forum. I've read a bit, and you guys all seem pretty cool. Good fan sites are really awesome. To be honest, I had, and may still have ulteriour motives for being a member. I'm unsure now as this really is a very cool place. I hope this doesn't come across as sacreligious, but until a few weeks ago, my best memory of Michelle was from fast and furious. She was excellant in that one. Since I started lurking I've seen Girlfight as well. That was very, very good. I will be checking out more of her stuff from now on, and I can't wait.

Again, I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, especially as a first post, but my interest in her career skyrocketed the second I found out that she was raised a Jehovah's Witness. It was at that point that I started to research her and came across this site. From what I've seen in her interviews she has been very diplomatic in her views on this ummm, religion.

I was wondering if she has ever discussed it in more detail here. With that said, I believe honesty is the best policy. So a bit about me, I am a pretty severe critic of their faith, just so that's out there. One of the things that I find fascinating about her is that she seems to really have outgrown her time with them. Believe it or not, that's a rare feat. I also was raised as one, and though I'm more than ok about it now, I'm involved with helping people recover from that group. Ok, that was my other motive. Any thoughts are more than welcome, but I don't want to distract the board with a religious debate as that's not my purpose. It would be neat to see if she has any gem's of wisdom though on the subject.

If you've gotten this far, thanks for the patience. Any and all thoughts from you experts would be more than appreciated. Talk to you all soon. Cheers and Regards!

Wow!I just read this and welcome here and I dont really know that if Michelle ever dicussed about that before :unsure: and please pass by here more often so we all can know you better okay. :lol: :)

Most definitely, hope to hear from ya soon!!!

Here's some quotes I had quick access to regarding the subject of her religious upbringing:

....um it was an interesting upbringing growing up Jehovah Witness…. that was interesting, and then up, and then having religion leave my life when my grandmother like left because she was like the bishop. That was interesting because then when she left I was like party! Everything I wasn't allowed to do now I can do ten times!

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My reality is too much for the American public, and I'll just let you know that right now. There are a lot of things about my life, you know, nothing about being like a slut on forty second street like selling her ass, because I have an ethical code that's beyond that because of my Jehovah Witness upbringing, I fear God!

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LW: Do any of your family act?

MR: No, not at all. They're mostly Jehovah's Witnesses. Until the age of thirteen, I was too. I lived with my mom and my grandmother growing up.

LW: What made you stop being a Jehovah's Witness?

MR: There were so many things you couldn't do. For one thing, I wouldn't have been able to do this film: Cursing is not allowed, and that kissing scene with Adrian on the bed just wouldn't be considered proper. I needed to break free from all that. But I'm grateful for it because it made me more careful: I have a sense of borderlines I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

LW: What does your family think of your acting now?

MR: You know, family is family, blood is blood. They have their beliefs, but they love me no matter what.

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OM: So when you became an actress, what was the reaction of your family and friends?

MR: A lot of my friends were really happy for me, and there were others that were jealous. And my mom's a Jehovah's Witness, so she wasn't too happy. It was more along the lines of "They're using you." I'm part of the devil's tool. [laughs] But my brothers are really happy for me.

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I grew up a Jehovah's Witness because my grandmother was really influencing that lifestyle on me. That is a very morally intense religion. And although they keep you from experiencing a lot of the bad things that can really hurt you out there in the world, they are also depriving you from experiencing life. And a lot of things you learn from after being in life.

So, I had that Jehovah Witness influence 'till I was fourteen in Jersey City and whenever I would visit my dad, it was like Freud and Darwin, and "learn for yourself," and "play chess," and experience things for yourself. So I grew up torn. That's my background.

So there you go. Welcome.

L.

Oh hell yeah, I plan on sticking around as long as you'll have me.

That was great Leigh, and thanks for posting them. I've read every single quote, but it's nice to see them all condensed. I see that the interviewer took a little creative liberty in the first quote though, haha. Jehovah's Witness do not allow women a title of any kind. They suppress them, whoops sorry. I do not want to get into exposing them. I'm just fascinated by one who broke free and was a serious success, haha. I seriously gotta get into other threads here. No more religious dogma from me tonight, I swear!

Welcome aboard!

welcome here stewart and have fun!!! :lol: :P

Welcome! :)

Hi Stewart. Hope you have fun on MRU. :)