Actor Plays His Part in Keeping Faith on Film

Actor Robert Hanley had been called back for a third audition, and the role was nearly his. But then Hanley learned that his character’s wife would be partially nude in one scene in the film.

“I won’t do it,” Hanley declared.

Hanley, a 49-year-old Bronx native and head of an acting studio in North Hollywood, is the founder of the Entertainment Fellowship, an interfaith group that encourages its members to apply Judeo-Christian values and ethics to their careers in entertainment.

The fellowship is also a support group for people in the industry who must deal with long hours, burnout and tough decisions.

In Hollywood, saying “no” can be a deadly move for an actor’s career--and bank account. But Hanley and other fellowship members are willing to take the risk.

When a role conflicts with his Judeo-Christian values and Irish-Italian-Roman Catholic upbringing, “I aspire to turn that down,” Hanley said.

Sometimes Hanley finds a way to be true to his beliefs and land acting roles. After Hanley stated his objections to playing opposite a partially nude woman, the nudity was written out of the script.

The outcome is not always so favorable. Once he auditioned for a part in a movie with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. The dialogue was peppered with profanity.

Ultimately, Hanley auditioned, omitting the offending words. He didn’t get the part and isn’t certain why.

Others in the group have faced similar choices--and have turned down parts. “I don’t think my mother and father would be proud of me doing this,” one young member of the fellowship told a producer as she turned down a role that involved wearing a skimpy costume.

In show business for 32 years, Hanley lives in Van Nuys with his dog and cat. He got the idea for the fellowship on a quiet evening in 1992. He had just finished roles on a soap opera and the prime-time show “Pros and Cons.”

“I was thinking about how important faith was in my career,” Hanley said.

He thought about the possibility of bringing together people in the entertainment industry who share the same views. Then he realized that God had sent him a message, he said.

“I said, ‘Oh, you mean it’s me? You want me to start something?’ ”

But when Hanley approached a local church about setting up a retreat for entertainment professionals, “they thought I was nuts,” he said.

Hanley found supporters at churches and with the Catholic archdiocese, but the Entertainment Fellowship has grown without being directly affiliated with a particular church.

The group’s newsletter, “Angie”--named for Hanley’s mother, who died in February--is mailed to 1,700 people of various faiths.

Following discussion groups on handling success and rejection or making career choices, members pray to help each other find jobs. Sometimes they pray that media moguls such as Michael Eisner and Steven Spielberg will make good decisions.

Hanley is optimistic that the media can be a tool for positive change in the world. It just comes down to the choices of individuals in the business.

“It’s up to the writers to write better stuff,” he said. “It’s up to producers to take a chance.”

The Entertainment Fellowship can be reached at (818) 909-0841.

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