Studying for priesthood helped my acting, says Matrix star

Harry Lennix, known for roles in The Matrix Reloaded and Batman v Superman, said his time studying for the priesthood helped him answer “profound questions” in his acting.

The American actor studied for five years to be a Dominican priest, and was beginning the process of ordination when he turned to acting.

“You have to be able to answer people’s questions,” The Matrix Reloaded star told Page Six. “Those questions are sometimes quite profound and require a great deal of thought and preparation to answer.”

Mr Lennix continued by comparing modern superhero movies with passion-plays of the past.

“People used to go and see passion movies, religious kind of movies and I think that these superheroes have kind of taken the place of that. People endowed with superpowers who have a wisdom or ancient kind of tradition that is superhuman,” he said.

In a previous interview with Soul Vision, Mr Lennix explained that his seminary’s motto of ora et labora (prayer and work) was the most important lesson of his early life.

“I think hard work is really the biggest lesson that I learned… the diligent application of the lessons I observed was really that you just have to keep at it and it will eventually come to be,” he explained.