The Casting Couch, Harvey Weinstein, and How to Navigate Inside Hollywood

The phone rang. It was the TV commercial producer, and he wanted to know if I'd shoot the spot topless. I'd just been cast a couple hours before, but he'd "forgotten" to ask me before I left if I would film the commercial with only a bow tie and bikini bottoms.He said he had lots of requests over the years from customers who buy his industrial tools (the products in his commercial) to do a second version with the model topless. When he did, his orders increased. But when I said no, he began to bully me and say I must be prudish and old fashioned. Then he said if I wasn't willing to shoot the spot topless, then he didn't want me at all. He added a few other sleazy comments. I chose the high road and told him to find someone else, and I'm sure he did.Hollywood is full of people who are desperate for stardom. Ultimately, I knew God had protected me from what could have been an even more difficult situation if he had confronted me on the set and pressured me, which often happens to unsuspecting talent.I have worked in Hollywood for over 25 years as an actor and producer so when the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal erupted recently I wasn't surprised. Unfortunately, the "casting couch" still exists today and is sometimes used by those who are in powerful studio and production positions. They prey on the vulnerable who are young and beautiful and use their positions of influence to manipulate the desperate who want to become famous.I also speak and teach on faith, media, and culture and it's a regular occurrence for me to be asked how to navigate the pitfalls and challenges of Hollywood — and the sex and nudity question always comes up. How should aspiring actors and other entertainment professionals confront the sexual harassment and nudity issues as a Christian working in Hollywood?Here are 3 things I always say:Take One – Don't come to Hollywood unless you're ready.I'm not just talking about studying and working on your talent. I'm talking about being firm in your faith and what you believe. The Bible challenges us to "defend our faith." In the Old Testament Daniel was chosen to be the king of Babylon's showcase star. He was told to conform to the culture and to eat and drink food which was against his values. So he made a stand. Did God protect him and save him? You bet, and then elevated him to a higher position. Daniel was prepared because he put God first.Take Two – Don't come to Los Angeles or New York if you aren't able to handle money – or the lack of it.It's expensive to live in LA and NYC. Rent, food, and transportation costs continue to skyrocket. It's when your rent is due, your car is in the shop, and you're eating Top Ramen for every meal that suddenly the request to undress for a scene starts to not look so bad. And it's not just about women — pornography and solicitation are nearly as prevalent for men as it is for women. When the need to survive is staring back at you, the lure of big bucks and stardom is easy to understand and that's when actors begin to succumb to the pressure.[ictt-tweet-inline hashtags="" via=""]Hollywood moguls like Harvey Weinstein have used their power since the beginning of the industry – but the truth is, it happens everywhere.[/ictt-tweet-inline] The competitive world of Hollywood just has an overabundance of desperately seeking individuals looking to be famous. So don't come into this business unless you can survive on the roller coaster of financial ups and downs.

Most Disturbing Harvey Weinstein News is Employees Sworn to Secrecy, Says Gretchen Carlson

Take Three – Don't come to Hollywood unless you have a support system.You have to have a trusted advisor in your corner that you can depend on to give you sound advice (even when it's not what you want to hear). The pressure is too great. A Hollywood career is similar to a drug habit. Each time you work on a project it elevates you and brings attention, money, and momentary happiness. It also brings with it a gnawing to go further, bigger and to do more.But if that next gig doesn't come the way you want it, or as fast you want, your self-esteem can collapse. To fight this giant you have to have someone to stand with you and bring clarity. It's why I'm on the Hollywood Prayer Network's board of directors that works toward the goal of attaching an industry professional with someone who will pray for them and stand with them.Will the problem of sexual harassment and abuse ever go away in Hollywood? Probably not. But if you're wise, surrounded with support, and grounded in prayer and God's Word you can not only survive, but thrive. When I wrote my devotional book "Hope 4 Today: Staying Connected to God in a Distracted Culture," I discovered that research studies confirm that if you read the Bible at least four times a week, your behavior actually changes. And in situations like a challenging career, you'll have a better chance to fight off the arrows of a morally fallen world.The bottom line? Your chances of success in Hollywood (and anywhere else) actually increase when you regularly engage in God's word.What scripture verse will you stand on when the pressure is on and the escape path is blocked? Know it and then know the name that gets you in the door every time – heavens door, Jesus Christ.Kathleen Cooke's new devotional "Hope 4 Today" encourages readers to engage with God. As co-founder of Cooke Pictures and The Influence Lab, she publishes a monthly newsletter. Find out more at kathleencooke.com, or reach her on Twitter @KathleenRCookeThis commentary published by permission of Phil and Kathleen Cooke.

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Get Rich (and/or Die Trying); But What Is God's Will?

Editor’s Note: Is this a 'get rich' story? Read on to find out! Contributing writers at Pacific Crossroads Church in Los Angeles recently announced a blog series for this month that “seeks to address the struggle so many of us feel in connecting our workplace lives to our walk with Christ.” The writers state in their introduction to the series: Pacific Crossroads Church has partnered with PCC members Steve and Margaret Lindsey to start an exciting new project called the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles to minister to this need. The center will launch this month and the 1st Annual Conference is Saturday April 1st. You can find out more and register for the event by clicking www.faithandworkLA.com.The first article in the series can be found here: The Daily Grind. Below is the second article, which was written anonymously, in the series.

Get Rich (and/or Die Trying)

No one is paying me to write this blog.This being a guest weekly blog for a church, that shouldn’t surprise you. But what may surprise you is I do get paid to ghostwrite about 100 blogs a month, which more than meets my daily bread needs. It surprises me at least, as, two years ago, I didn’t even know this was something one could get paid for. And it’s not what I expect to be doing two years from now. It’s my classic LA “day job” as I work on my own artistic projects, and I thank God daily for providing me with plentiful freelance work that uses my talents, pays my bills, rarely if ever stresses me out, and gives me the time to pursue the creative projects that I believe God has led me to pursue, knowing that whether I ultimately make bank on those projects is an outcome I cannot control.Sounds kind of serene when I put it that way, doesn’t it? It certainly does to me, but of course I do not always choose to put it that way. I’m about to hit the big 4-0 and haven’t had a full-time job since I left a 250k/year position with full benefits and stratospheric mobility almost six years ago to pursue a creative life of unrelenting uncertainty, no job title, and very high co-pays every time I need to roll into Kaiser. And, if I haven’t hit my 10,000 hours of doing creative work for “free” yet, I’m awfully close. Which, depending on your perspective, is noble or kind of stupid from the outside. From the inside, it’s often head-against-the-wall infuriating. When I see someone’s brand new condo or house or family vacation across the world, I wonder if those monuments of the good life will ever be within my reach and if maybe, just maybe, this six-year, headlong campaign in the war of art has been little more than a kamikaze mission in a losing battle on behalf of the unsympathetic cause of boy-who-wouldn’t-grow-up artistic vanity.But then I remember what it was like when I was about to hit the not-as-big 3-0 this time ten years ago. I was six months into a career that I had spent years in school for and knew at my deepest core was wrong for me from day one. To put it bluntly, I was miserable doing it, and while the money was great, the job was all-consuming in the worst way.So why did I do it? Because I didn’t know who I was back then – and I certainly didn’t give a second thought to God, much less his will and how my work might fit into it – and so “work” (with no preceding “Faith &…”) all came down to making the most money I could. Which meant no following the creative trail of breadcrumbs God has always set before me, and certainly no pro bono church blogs. To quote Lucinda Williams’ “I Lost It,” the prevailing attitude in my life back then was, “Everything’s paid for. Nothing’s free.” And the prevailing result of that approach was perpetual failure in beseeching the counterfeit gods of all-that-money-can-buy to grant me the fulfillment I so desperately sought.How I got from there to here is too long of a story to tell here, but the most important shift was in my attitude. I’ve gone from “nothing’s free” to “I don’t want nothing if I have to fake it.” That’s a change that’s occurred in my life through learning to let go of what I thought was a need for certainty, earthly riches, and the adulation of others (all colossal works-in-progress, friends) by letting the Holy Spirit in to put the spotlight on God, not me.That too is a topic worthy of volumes, but a line that pretty much encapsulates it for me is one I recently read in Experiencing God by Richard and Henry Blackaby, which implores the reader to stop asking, “What is God’s will for my life?” and to start asking simply, “What is God’s will?”When I get anxious that all my “free” work won’t lead to my preferred outcomes, I have to make that mental shift away from “my career” and back to what I can do to accomplish “God’s will. Period.” It’s an hour-to-hour practice for me. Ideally, over time it will move steadily towards a moment-to-moment practice. I don’t know the future, but I hope that this will be a lifelong pursuit of true riches.Note: This post originally appeared on Pacific Crossroads Church website blog.On The WebCenter for Faith + Work Los Angeles