6 Celebrities Who Almost Became Priests or Nuns

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A surprising number of Hollywood stars have admitted to wanting to become a priest or nun in their past. In 1963, Dolores Hart who was dubbed the “next Grace Kelly” and the girl who gave Elvis Presley his first onscreen kiss, famously broke up her engagement and quit Hollywood to become a nun at age 24. In addition to Hart, there are quite a few famous celebrities who were on the path to pursuing a life closely tied with the Catholic faith. Some of these celebrities attended seminary school, while others went to convent school. While they didn’t follow their initial path or dream of becoming priests or nuns, their experiences in the church made a huge impression on their lives and their faith still plays a dominant role in their lives today. Here are six celebrities who almost became priests or nuns.

Martin Scorsese

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Martin Scorsese studied at seminary when he was a young man. In the end, as history and an armful of awards can attest, he decided to be a film-make, not a priest. Vocation was very special to him. At the age of 14, Scorsese entered Cathedral College Seminary in New York with a view to entering the priesthood. “I entered the seminary because I had a mentor – Fr Principe his name was. He was down in the Lower East Side and he had a great effect on my life from the ages of 11 to 17,” Scorsese said. “He was a major influence on a lot of us kids in those days. He’d give us books by Graham Green and Dwight Macdonald and many others, and he opened my eyes to a lot intellectually.” Once in the seminary, he quickly gained a different perspective, realizing that he couldn’t devote himself to a way of life and call it a vocation just because he wanted to be like somebody else. It had to come from within. While the director was dismissed from the seminary as a young man, his personal pilgrimage has never ended.

Anjelica Huston

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Anjelica Huston longed to be indoctrinated into the Catholic Church as a youth. The actress was born in California, but spent nearly 15 years of her life in the Irish countryside. Studying there was an experience for her, as her Hollywood legend father, actor and director John Huston didn’t believe in God. “I went to a convent school where I was a bit of a peculiarity because my father, who was an atheist, told the nuns I was not to be indoctrinated,” Huston told The Independent. “But I longed to be indoctrinated. I’d put my mother’s old tutus on my head and pretend I was at my First Communion. When I was six, I told my father I wanted to be a nun and he said: ‘That’s wonderful, honey. When are you going to start?’” As Huston got older, her attention began to drift to love and relationships, most notably being involved with Jack Nicholson, a relationship which lasted for 17 years.

Carson Daly

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One of TV’s most recognizable personalities grew up wanting to be a priest. Daly eventually abandoned his religious aspirations to pursue professional golfing. While training, he interned at a radio station and embarked on a DJ career, which eventually to lead to his on-screen work. While he left the idea of the priesthood behind, his Catholic faith is extremely important to him. On Today, when discussing marriage to longtime girlfriend Siri Pinter, he expressed the importance and seriousness of marriage to him and how it was important to be married in the Catholic Church. The former MTV host also pointed out that walking down the aisle was significant because the idea of marriage has eroded in the mind of many in today’s culture.

Michael Moore

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Growing up in Michigan, Michael Moore attended parochial school and intended to go into seminary, inspired by the priests and nuns who, at least until Pope John Paul II, inherited a long tradition of social justice and activism in the American church. “The nuns always made a point to take us to the Jewish temple for Passover seders,” he said. “They wanted to make it clear that the Jews had nothing to do with putting Jesus on the cross.” While he went to seminary at the age of 14 to be a priest, he instead became a filmmaker and activist. Although he didn’t become a priest, he did think a lot about it. His Catholic faith is still a big part of his life.