Roma Downey Talks Being a Light in Hollywood

Published: August 4, 2023

Roma Downey Talks Being a Light in Hollywood

By Movieguide® Contributor

Actress Roma Downey shared why she created the production company Lightworkers and how she practices gratitude every day on the Jesus Calling podcast.

Downey’s breakout role came in TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, a hit TV show that ran for a decade during the ‘90s and early 2000s. In this role, Downey embraced her faith—something she realizes not all actors get to do.

When the show ended, Downey began to wonder what was next. The actress was offered roles she didn’t care for, and she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to stay in entertainment. However, she felt God tug on her heart and created Lightworkers Media.

“There is a saying that ‘it’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness,’” Downey told Jesus Calling. “And we really believe that at Lightworkers. You know, there are a lot of bad things happening in the world. Of course, there are.

“There is a lot of fear and anxiety…around climate change, around rising crime, world hunger. I mean, it goes on and on. There’s so much hurt and pain in our world. But there is also so much goodness in our world, and there are good people everywhere doing good things all day,” she continued.

“We’re committed to reminding people that there is goodness in the world, that there are good people, and that there is light. That is the light. And that, of course, God is the light. We’re just the workers,” she added.

To work on projects that promote goodness, Downey first focuses on the goodness in her life. To do this, she practices gratitude every day.

“I have a practice in the morning to help remind me of this gratitude attitude that I want to live my life by,” she explained. “And it’s just as simple as this: when you get out of bed in the morning, your first action probably is–like me–to walk into the bathroom. I put my first foot down on the floor and I say, ‘Thank’ and I put my second foot down on the floor and I say, ‘You,’ and I say ‘Thank you’ with each step I take into the bathroom.”

“And I start my day in gratitude, and gratitude for everything–for the birds that sing, for the sun that rises,” she continued. “You know, the Bible tells us to pray continually, and ‘Thank you’ can be a prayer.”

Finding gratitude in her own life allows Downey to lead a company that focuses on good despite all the evil in the world.

“I’ve almost trained myself to look for the blessings. And the great thing is, when you train yourself to look for blessings, you find them, and then you start finding that they’re everywhere,” she noted. “It’s like the more you’re grateful for, the more you have to be grateful for.”

Movieguide® previously reported:

For Downey, bringing quality, biblically grounded, and family-friendly content to audiences is one of her primary goals as streaming services become saturated with new content.

“If you’re a screenwriter, the Bible has everything,” Downey told Fox News in a recent interview. “There’s tension, betrayal, love, sacrifice, heroism, drama, danger – you name it. It has all the ingredients that make up a great story.”

Downey continued: “But it’s deeper than that. People are hungry for God. I think they’re hungry for hope. We’ve been so visual and there are so many streaming services now. There’s so much content available. But I think people truly want to see these stories on the screen. And the Bible is beautiful.”