Helen Mirren
Some people believe in God, and some don’t. The same goes for celebrities, but it’s more surprising when you find out why someone of their stature believes in what they do.
Personal beliefs are usually kept pretty quiet, but these celebrities were comfortable enough to talk about their atheism in public. You might be surprised when you read a few of these names.
The Oscar-winning actress known for her roles in The Queen, The Debt, and The Hundered-Foot Journey has some interesting thoughts on her religion. “I’d describe myself as a Christian who doesn’t believe in God. I can’t help being Christian because I was brought up in Britain and the morality of Christianity is part of the fabric of this country.
Natalie Dormer
But I don’t believe in God. But I do believe in treating other people as you’d want to be treated and being empathetic.”
Natalie Dormer, the star from The Hunger Games series and Game of Thrones identifies as an atheist.
“I say I’m an atheist but I wouldn’t mind being visited by a ghost, I’d be open to the experience,” she said in an interview.
Daniel Radcliffe
She might have been faithful as Margaery Tyrell, but in real life things are a little bit different.
The star of the Harry Potter movies was raised in a mixed-faith household of Protestantism and Judaism. However, he chose to focus on something different by becoming an atheist and says; “I have a lot of faith in my generation.
Morgan Freeman
I have to. We have to develop our own moral system.”
Morgan Freeman has even played God, and some people would tell you they wish God would talk to them in a voice that sounded just like the famous actor’s.
Julianne Moore
Freman said “My belief system doesn’t support a creator as such, as we can call God, who created us in his/her/its image… Has anybody ever seen hard evidence?”
Julianne Moore was once a Christian but a tragic event in her life made her turn away from God and become an atheist.
Larry King
She once told the Hollywood Reporter that “I learned when my mother died five years ago that there is no ‘there’ there.” She says that she feels more in charge of her own life after the change.
Larry King, the legendary TV and radio host, identifies as an atheist himself. He may be 83 years old, but he still believes that there would be no religion if we didn’t die. “I’m probably an atheist,” he said.
Howard Stern
“I don’t buy it. I think the only reason for religion is death. If you didn’t die, there’d be no religion.”
The comedic radio personality once hilariously said “I hate to break it to you, but there is no God.
Rafael Nadal
Here’s what happens when you die: you sit in a box and get eaten by worms.” We’re not so sure about this one, but we’ll pretend like we agree with him.
Rafael Nadal is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time and his 131-72 career record speaks for itself. Interestingly enough you’ll never find him praying to god before one of his matches.
Lance Armstrong
“It’s hard to say, I don’t believe in God, I would love to know if God exists. But it’s a very difficult thing for me to believe,” the tennis player said.
Lance Armstrong has faced down death, in the form of cancer, and not only lived to tell the tale but also went on and become the supreme champion of his sport, cycling.
Angelina Jolie
His brush with death didn’t change his beliefs though and he still says he is an atheist to the core.
The movie star fell in love with Bradd Pitt when they were co-stars in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but they probably didn’t have a very religious wedding. She said to her, she doesn’t need a God. When asked if there was a god she answered: “Hmm… For some people.
Brad Pitt
I hope so, for them. For the people who believe in it, I hope so. There doesn’t need to be a God for me. There’s something in people that’s spiritual, that’s godlike. I don’t feel like doing things just because people say things, but I also don’t really know if it’s better just to not believe in anything, either.”
Brad Pitt first revealed he was an atheist in 2015.
Ricky Gervais
The star was raised in a Southern Baptist household that he described to have “All the Christian guilt about what you should and shouldn’t do.” He went on to say that his father was very, very tough.
The English comedian, actor, writer, producer, singer, and musician is not only an atheist, but he defends his position as one vocally. “It’s a strange myth that atheists have nothing to live for.
Bruce Willis
It’s the opposite. We have nothing to die for; we have everything to live for.”
Bruce Willis’ atheism isn’t really a staunch advocacy that there is no God.
James Cameron
It’s more based on the fact that he feels overwhelmed by the choices offered by the different faiths available in the modern world and has instead opted to pursue none of them rather than make the wrong call.
James Cameron rejected his protestant upbringing and declared himself 100% atheist a long time back. He’s actually worked to promote atheism by investing in research to disprove aspects of articles of faith.
Jodie Foster
He even tried to prove that Jesus wasn’t resurrected and was just an ordinary person doing ordinary things.
Jodie Foster is an atheist but she’s not anti-religion. On the contrary, she has tried to expose her children to as many faiths as possible so that they may make an informed decision about what they want later on in life.
Kathy Griffin
She’s said to enjoy the different festivities of other faiths very much.
Kathy is not just an atheist; she is a long-standing vocal critic of all things Christian. That’s surely cost her a few fans across the last few years.
Mark Zuckerberg
Yet, when she finally won an Emmy Award she didn’t hold back and said; “This award is now my God. Suck it Jesus!”
As you might have guessed Mark was both born and raised as a practising Jew. However, he rejected his faith outright during his teens (possibly following the event of his Barmitzvah as most Jewish teens do) and is an outspoken atheist advocate today.
Emma Thompson
He even lists “atheism” as his faith on his own social network, Facebook.
Emma Thompson has been very outspoken about her atheism over the years. “I regard religion with fear and suspicion. It’s not enough to say that I don’t believe in God.
Billy Joel
I actually regard the system as distressing: I am offended by some of the things said in the Bible and the Quran, and I refute them.” said Emma Thompson in a television interview. She went on to say that she sees herself as an anarchist.
While Billy Joel was raised in a mixed Catholic and Jewish home, he says that he’s neither in practice.
George Clooney
While he feels culturally closest to Judaism, he says he won’t worship and that he believes many people are forced into religious participation by other people rather than choosing it freely.
George Clooney is definitely not a devout atheist but he’s definitely not a believer either. He said; “I don’t believe in heaven and hell.
Sir Ian McKellen
I don’t know if I believe in God. All I know is that as an individual, I won’t allow this life – the only thing I know to exist – to be wasted.”
The star of the X-Men movies and the Lord of the Rings trilogy is a borderline atheist.
Keira Knightley
He acknowledges that there is a possibility that there is a God but has decided to live his life as though there isn’t and not to let religious aspects intrude in his thoughts.
Pirates of the Carribean franchise star Keira Knightly jokingly took shots at Catholics when she said “It’s absolutely extraordinary. If only I wasn’t an atheist, I could get away with anything.
Seth MacFarlane
You’d just ask for forgiveness and then you’d be forgiven.”
Seth MacFarlane started out on a religious path. He was brought up as a Catholic in a Catholic family but at the age of 11 he rejected his religion and became a staunch atheist.
Keanu Reeves
This probably is shown by the number of sacrilegious jokes which appear in his hit TV show “Family Guy.”
In 2005 Reeves said he was changing his thoughts on religion because a film was causing him to have fewer doubts about Heaven and Hell, but also admitted to still being atheist.
John Lennon
This was when the actor was promoting the film Constantine, which was of a religious nature.
If you doubt Lennon’s atheism look no further than his 1970 song “God.”
God is a concept by which we can measure our pain…
I don’t believe in magic, I don’t believe in I-ching,
I don’t believe in bible, I don’t believe in tarot,
I don’t believe in Hitler, I don’t believe in Jesus,
I don’t believe in Kennedy, I don’t believe in Buddha,
I don’t believe in mantra, I don’t believe in Gita,
I don’t believe in yoga, I don’t believe in kings,
I don’t believe in Elvis, I don’t believe in Zimmerman,
I don’t believe in Beatles…
I just believe in me, Yoko and me, and that’s reality.
Also, in 1965 he said, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink.
Richard Branson
I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock and roll or Christianity.”
The eccentric billionaire isn’t the most obvious atheist on this list, but in his autobiography he gives us the proof we need when he wrote, “I do not believe in God, but as I sat there in the damaged capsule, hopelessly vulnerable to the slightest shift in weather or mechanical fault, I could not believe my eyes.” In the clip above, you’ll notice he says he believes in evolution, not God.