Celebrities Who Grew Up Mormon and Revealed Their Experiences: Katherine Heigl, Ryan Gosling, Amy Adams, More

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Celebrities Who Grew Up Mormon and Revealed Their Experiences: Katherine Heigl, Ryan Gosling, Amy Adams, More

A foundation that shaped them. Katherine Heigl, Amy Adams and Ryan Gosling are among the A-listers that grew up in the Mormon church. Heigl’s family converted to the religion after her brother Jason died in 1986 of injuries suffered in a car accident. “Both my parents felt a great desire for answers, and they found an answer in the Mormon church — or answers they could live with, anyway, because there really are none,” the Grey’s Anatomy alum told Vanity Fair in January 2008. “I give my parents unbelievable credit for pulling it together, and I give the Mormon church a lot of credit for helping them to do that." Although the 27 Dresses actress is no longer practicing, her upbringing as a Latter-day Saint influenced her relationship with Josh Kelley, whom she wed in December 2007. "I ... didn't want to live together before we were married. I still have enough Mormon in me — not a lot, but enough — that I wanted to keep that a little bit sacred,” she told the outlet. [jwplayer 9g5704JA-zhNYySv2] Adams, for her part, has also been candid about how the religion influenced her worldview. "I grew up as a Mormon and that had more of an impact on my values than my beliefs. I'm afraid I will always feel the weight of a lie,” she told The Sun in June 2013. “I’m very hard on myself anyway. Religious guilt carries over, too. You can't really misbehave without feeling badly about it — at least, I can’t.” The Enchanted star added that Mormonism’s strict rules — which include a ban on drinking coffee and alcohol — remain a source of guilt. "Even when I go out with friends and we go overboard at bars or clubs, I wake up the next morning feeling a bit conflicted about having had too much fun,” she shared at the time. Gosling, on the other hand, has said that he never identified with the theology, despite growing up in the church. “I wasn't really Mormon, my parents were,” the Notebook actor told Beliefnet in October 2007. “My mom was really cool. She said, ‘This is an option, but this isn't the only option. This is an idea, but this isn’t the only idea. You have to find your own truth.’ I never really could identify with it.” The Canada native added that there were “good things” about his religious upbringing. “[It] socialized me at a young age,” he explained. “You have to pray in public, shake a lot of hands, talk in public, sing in church, stuff like that. It has definitely stayed with me.” Keep scrolling to see which celebrities grew up in the Mormon church — and what they've said about the religion:

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Chelsea Handler

The Chelsea Lately alum talked about growing up with a Jewish father and a Mormon mother during a February 2020 conversation with Judy Blume at the MAKERS Conference.

“I grew up as a Jew and Mormon … so we had to choose and I chose Jewish, obviously, because Mormonism is so ridiculous,” the comedian said.

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Eliza Dushku

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum told Intelligencer in April 2012 that she no longer considered herself to be “very Mormon” despite being raised in the faith.

“My problems with the church have to do with its stance on homosexuality, and other things,” she told the outlet.

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Katherine Heigl

"That structure and discipline was really good for me,” the Knocked Up actress told Good Housekeeping of her Mormon childhood in August 2014.

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Paul Walker

The late Fast and the Furious star left the church as an adult. During a December 2013 interview with GQ, Walker shared that his decision to keep working instead of staying at home with his daughter, Meadow, went against the parenting philosophy he was raised with.

“I went to a born-again Christian high school, was brought up in a traditional Mormon family where these ideas about parenting are of structure and sacrifice. To think outside of that idea of family and parenting that I've grown up with is tough, but also very freeing,” he said, noting that his daughter wanted him “to keep acting so she can travel around the world with me.”

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Julianne and Derek Hough

“I’m not practicing, but I’m so glad I was raised Mormon,” Julianne told the New York Post in October 2013. The Footloose actress added that she grew up in a household where the rules were: “No sex before marriage, no drinking, no caffeine, no smoking, no swear words, no R-rated movies.”

Derek, for his part, no longer considers himself a member of the church either. He described his childhood as “very Mormon” in his August 2014 memoir, Taking the Lead: Lessons From a Life in Motion.

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Ryan Gosling

The Crazy, Stupid Love actor — who grew up in the church — shared in an October 2007 interview with Beliefnet that his “really cool” mom let him pick his own spiritual path despite being a Mormon herself.

“She said, ‘This is an option, but this isn't the only option. This is an idea, but this isn’t the only idea. You have to find your own truth,’” he recalled.

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David Archuleta

The American Idol alum decided to take a step back from the church after coming out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in June 2021.

During a November 2022 conversation with ABC News’ Steve Osunsami, Archuleta talked about the “faith crisis” he had after a leader in his church tried to invalidate his sexuality.

"I think three times in that conversation he said, 'Well, maybe we just need to find you a good girl. Maybe you can find a good girl,'" he recalled. "And I'm like, 'That's not the solution.'"

Despite his adverse experiences with the religion, the Florida native defended its practitioners.

"I would say, it's the church structure more than the people. Because the people have been amazing,” he said.

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Amy Adams

The American Hustle actress admitted that she still carries “religious guilt” despite no longer being an active member of the faith.

“You can't really misbehave without feeling badly about it — at least, I can’t,” she told The Sun in June 2013.