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It was about two years ago that Jaci Velasquez, the chart-topping recording artist, decided to take her agent's advice and expand beyond the realm of contemporary Christian music. The award-winning singer, whose songs include worshipful ballads like "On My Knees" and "Adore," began pounding the pavement in Hollywood, looking for employment as an actress.

"It's something I have always wanted to do," says Velasquez. "Then I finally got the courage to try." Which doesn't exactly mean that Hollywood welcomed her with open arms. "I went on tons of auditions. It was like starting all over again. I remember an audition for a Nickelodeon movie, and it was ten girls and ten guys auditioning and I just thought, 'I am not respected at all. No one cares what I've done.' It was a little shocking. And humbling. But that's good. It's good to be humbled and realize that without God, I am nothing."

While some Hollywood executives saw Velasquez's squeaky-clean image and her fame in the Christian market as reasons to not take her seriously, Twentieth Century Fox eventually signed Velasquez to a three-picture deal and saw an opportunity to market her as a "PG version of J. Lo." But in her typical down-to-earth manner Velasquez adds with a giggle, "Puh-leeze."

Still, the same hard work ethic that landed Velasquez a recording contract when she was only 16 once again paid off. Her April film debut as a Latina socialite in the romantic comedy Chasing Papi has given her enough notice in Hollywood that she is now considering other movie offers. The beautiful 23-year-old also has been busy shooting TV ads for Pepsi-Cola and doing a concert tour for her latest album, Unspoken.

And how has her expanded career affected Velasquez's call to ministry? To Velasquez, it is simply an extension of it. "The truth is, acting is part of my ministry," she says. "I can go to work on a set and show the people I am working with the unconditional love of Christ. Sometimes people already know I am a Christian because of my music and I can have a conversation with them."

If she's encountered any turbulence on her flight to crossover success, it's mainly been the murmurs of other Christians who are concerned that her "sexy" public image may be compromising her faith. But she has learned to roll with the criticism: "It's funny because in the Latin community, the way I dress is seen as pretty conservative. And I have purposely not done [certain projects] because I felt they were too provocative or inappropriate."

Velasquez says she's secure in her new direction. She feels passionate about being a part of a growing number of Christians in Hollywood that's striving to make quality projects that will influence pop culture. "I want the world to see that Christians can [make entertainment] as good or better as anyone else, and that we can enter that world of chaos and offer peace and hope."

A Christian Reader original article. Kris Rasmussen is a writer based in Michigan.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
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