Well, it doesn’t affect me to the point where I won’t watch their movies on principal. Even if Travolta’s a Scientologist (wonder if he’s learned about Xemu and the thetans, yet?), it won’t much affect my enjoyment of Pulp Fiction.
Their personal beliefs have actually made me like them more, on the other hand. Like Marilyn Manson, Al Franken, and probably some others I can’t think of right now.
Scientology was the first thing that came to mind, and I see I’m not the first. I don’t think that one’s religious beliefs affect one’s acting abilities. One’s belief in scientology indicates a severe lack of grounding, and a profound degree of suggestibility to me.
Maybe someday I’ll be able to afford the last scientology class that teaches you about the alien spaceship that comes down to save the initiated. Until then, I’ll just have to keep writing checks to those bastards.
I asked for a window seat in that spaceship, it’s the only way to fly.
I’m still able to enjoy their work even though I might disagree with their beliefs. What really grinds on me though is when they use their celebrity status to promote their beliefs and try to cram it down our throats. What irritates me even more are the ppl (and media) that treat them like their opinions carry more weight than anyone else’s just because they are a celeb. Having acting skills does not mean that they are “all seeing / all knowing”.
In all likelihood, yes. The effect that it has depends on:
The worst for me is someone who is both offensive and proselytizing, e.g. as mentioned before Mel Gibson. I plan to never again watch a Mel Gibson movie.
If it’s something goofy that became public on through say, a People or Entertainment Weekly article, well I may take the celebrity somewhat less seriously (depending on what it is), but I doubt it would change whether or not I would choose to watch a movie with him/her in it. An example of this (best I can do with my tired brain) for me is Billy Bob Thornton and what I’ve heard about his aversion to antiques leading to the result that he does not like to stay in older hotels with antique furnishings. Quirky, but not determinative of anything. It didn’t even leave enough of an impact that I can recall the details.
Any scientology junk just drives me insane. I liked John Travolta in Get Shorty, but I’m really glad Battlefield Earth tanked, since it was written by that jackoff L. Ron Hubbard. I’m just bored by the celebrities talking politics, since most of them all follow the same line. The one that really irritated me was Ed Begley jr. Why an actor who starred in an inane hospital soap opera is suddenly an environmental know-it-all is beyond me.
I agree with you about Mel Gibson. That’s another one I forgot.
Mike Nelson, though-I don’t recall hearing he’s a Republican.
Either way, I still love Mike.
Anne Heche-but that’s just because she’s a freaking nutjob.
I don’t really care if a celebrity is a leftist or a right winger, as long as they’re not too obnoxious either way.
In most cases, no. I’m a big fan of movies and I can seperate people’s personal beliefs from their work. Everyone but Mel Gibson. I won’t support any of his projects. I have no respect for him or his father, and I hated The Passion. I also have an irrational disliking for anyone who liked The Passion or thought it did anyone or anything, other than Gibson, any good.
The man and his father are two of the biggest douche nozzles I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing about for such a long time. The last thing of his I saw was a scene from What Women Want where he’s called a sex god after having casual sex with a near stranger.
I almost never let it bother me. I won’t deprive myself of an otherwise good movie, just because someone who is a jerk or a weirdo is in it. Well, very rarely.
I bought the DVD to The Cassandra Crossing (great Jerry Goldsmith score, by the way) even though it has murderer OJ Simpson in it. Simpson has never been a draw for me, but Burt Lancaster is, so I’ll get an OJ Simpson movie because of Burt Lancaster. (Besides, Lancaster was a real actor.)
I don’t particularly care for Wesley Snipes, ever since I saw him on the news at some Louis Farakahn (sp?) rally, but that won’t stop me from buying the DVD for US Marshals, (another great Jerry Goldsmith score, by the way), because that would mean I would miss out on Tommy Lee Jones. And nobody makes me miss out on Tommy Lee Jones.
I am not crazy about some of the things that Al Franken says, but I just saw him tonight on TV, and damn, he’s funny. How can I not like his performances? When he stops being funny, I’ll stop being a fan (of his TV and movie performances, anyway).
Same goes for Alec Baldwin. Maybe he’s a little on the flakey side, but that man is mighty fine. I won’t miss a movie that he’s in. Same goes for Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, and a multitude of others. I know that Mel Gibson’s on the edge of weird sometimes, as is Tom Cruise, etc., but I won’t avoid a movie because they’re in it. (I am a Mel Gibson fan from way back, though I haven’t caught any of his movies lately. And my goodness, I can’t say he’s aging that gracefully, is he?) I was never a big fan of Tom Cruise, but I liked Far and Away and Minority Report and I’ll be seeing them again some day.
Basically, I don’t care all that much. It’s more about the movie for me. After all, years from now, the movie will live on, while the actor and all that created it will be dust.
Going back a bit, both Picasso and Richard Wagner were supposedly not very nice to women, but does that mean I’ll stop enjoying Picasso’s paintings or Wagner’s music? Nope.
Uh, do you mean he’s a member of some weird or extreme Protestant sect, or do non-Catholic/Orthodox Christians in general bother you?
Unless a celeb’s personal beliefs are truly appalling I generally don’t waste much time being troubled by them, but I do often think better of celebs whose beliefs align with mine or who manage to drop/avoid ones I don’t like. For instance, I don’t think much about Tom Cruise being a Scientologist, but I have a little extra respect for Nicole Kidman for staying out of the whole Scientology thing even when they were married.
Well, he certainly has plenty of time to study the environment, doesn’t he? It’s not like he has cluttered up his schedule with lots and lots of acting jobs or anything. 
Mostly, it’s a matter of how much they try to use their celebrity to spread their beliefs. Otherwise, I don’t pay too much attention to it, although I feel a bit depressed when I hear of another performer I like who’s joined Scientology.
Gibson and Travolta are on my list, and Cruise is teetering on the brink.
Usually it doesn’t bother me much, though John Malkovich really pissed me off a while ago when he made some very flippant remarks about the death penalty. Cruise’s crap about Scientology curing his dyslexia or whatever annoys me because I worry it encourages other people to seek ridiculous solutions to health issues.
Or just go to www.xenu.net.
Why should a person’s beliefs remain private? Isn’t the whole point of language (if not life) to communicate our personal ways of seeing the world? And I don’t begrudge them their use of celebrity status to change people’s beliefs. If I were famous, I know I damn sure would be trying to change the world. If anything, it makes me respect them more if they use their money and fame to bring about positive change.
That said, please note that the operative words here are “positive change.” I don’t think that’s something that famous actors, musicians, etc., are incapable of bringing about. Many of them are at least as informed and intelligent as certain highly-placed members of our current government. Of course, many of them are also pompous airheads, but that’s the breaks.
So no, I don’t mind when celebrities try to use their status as a way to promote their beliefs. But I do mind when those beliefs are ones I find flaky or downright abhorrent. PETA, Scientology, and Bush Republicanism come to mind.
If I excluded Scientologists or general loony Lefties, I don’t know what entertainment I’d be able to enjoy. And I admire Hollywoodites who admit to being Republican - Republican is the New Gay! G
It all has been said. Mel Gibson will never earn a penny from me again. Creep.
There are a couple of Dutch celebs I could mention, but that would be boring, right? 
As always, each is free to do as he wishes. The celebrities, you and of course me. Personally, I don’t believe that the ability to act or entertain gives a person any special insight. I don’t begrudge a celebrity his beliefs, but being a celebrity doesn’t make his beliefs interesting to me. You of course, may follow along with anyone you wish.
As long as a celebrity gets by on their talent, I could care less what their religious or political bent is. If they use it for shameless attention whoring, it turns me off. IE, Sinead O’Connor ripping up the Pope’s picture on stage. She didn’t do it for religious reasons. She did it to call attention to herself.
Watching Stuart Saves His Family should cure that real quick.
He didn’t specify exactly which sub-group he belonged to.
He had made a comment once, “I raise my children in a Christian home”. I guess it just rubbed me the wrong way.
I’ve had people tell me, “I live a Christian lifestyle” in such a way as to tell me I was a baby-eating, dog-stomping, heathen. No, I don’t judge an entire goup by one or two people, but more people than not strike me this way.
Still, he’s a funy talented person, so I should probably not read any more interviews that cover religion or politics.