Stephen Baldwin, known for 1990s hits like The Usual Suspects and The Flintstones, has revealed why he left Hollywood to pursue a very different path. Now 60, he works as a minister, a decision he made after embracing his faith in the early 2000s.
A Calling Found Through Skateboarding
Baldwin, the younger brother of Alec Baldwin, said two events prompted the change. First, his housekeeper reportedly prophesied that he and his wife Kennya would rediscover their faith. The second came after the birth of his daughter Hailey, now known as Hailey Bieber after marrying singer Justin Bieber. He also has another daughter, Alaia.
After attending evangelical events, Baldwin encountered a skateboarding ministry that changed everything. He described the moment to People, saying, "Down on the beach, they had built a skate park on the sand with plywood. And these funky, super committed, cool, tattooed, pierced skateboarders were there and they’d skate, stop, pick up a microphone and start preaching evangelistically, and like 5,000 kids would be around watching because of their interest in the skateboarders. I felt a calling."
Leaving Hollywood Behind
Baldwin produced a Christian-themed skateboarding video that sold 10,000 copies in six months, leading to a request from a major church. He added, "Then one of the bigger churches called and asked what it would cost to bring the skaters from the video to their church for a live event. So that’s when I left Hollywood. I went to 125 churches over four years."
Baldwin, who supported Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024, acknowledged that Hollywood often disagreed with his views, but he has no regrets about stepping away. He said he didn’t want "to be Tom Cruise" and make hundreds of millions on films.
Family Reflections
This isn’t the first time Baldwin has spoken about his family. On the Misspelling podcast last year, he praised his daughter’s success, saying, "I never talk about her, but my daughter has done the impossible. But in this day and age, it’s not impossible. Young people are making unbelievable amounts of money on the internet, in ways that are very sketchy. So God bless her."
