Jennifer Connelly is a Hollywood institution, and she's also an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church. She started as a child actor, and she has kept her feet firmly grounded in work and family. Rarely making public appearances unless she's promoting a new project, Connelly is somewhat of an enigma. Yet, her credits and awards speak volumes. She may keep her personal life out of the spotlight, but there's still much to admire about Jennifer Connelly.
Getting an Early Start in Hollywood
Connelly began booking modeling gigs before she was 10 years old, and acting auditions followed shortly after. Her large expressive eyes won over casting agents for projects such as Once Upon a Time in America and Labyrinth. By the time she was twenty, she had already worked with huge celebrities, including David Bowie. Yet, Connelly continued to prove that she wasn't in the industry to chase fame. Her passion for acting drew her to complex roles and unique projects.
Jennifer Connelly won an Academy Award in 2002 for A Beautiful Mind. In the film, she played the wife of tortured but brilliant mathematician, John Nash. More recently, Connelly took a supporting role in Top Gun: Maverick alongside Tom Cruise, which put her squarely in the public eye once again. Her son Kai and her husband, actor Paul Bettany, accompanied her to the Oscars ceremony to celebrate the film's achievements.
Making Time To Support Causes
While Connelly's New York-based family didn't pass down any religious background to her, the actor does hold many causes close to her heart. In 2008, Connelly starred in an ad campaign to support clean water initiatives in Africa. In the ad, Connelly strolls down the streets of New York with a big jerry can in tow to collect dirty water from Central Park. The campaign offered a creative comparison between everyday life in the U.S. and the challenges that people, mostly women, face in Africa because they lack access to clean water.
The veteran actor has continued to show her public support of charitable causes over the years. In 2012, Connelly became an artist ambassador for Save the Children, a global organization that focuses on lifting children out of poverty. A few years later, Connelly and her husband collaborated on Shelter, a film that humanizes the houselessness crisis. Living in New York City, houselessness and drug addiction are things that Connelly sees every day around her. It was that reality that inspired her to dig into the character of a heroin addict who falls in love with another person on the streets.
Building a Solid Foundation at Home
Jennifer Connelly dedicates much of her time to building a solid foundation at home with her family. In 2001, she met Paul Bettany on the set of A Beautiful Mind. The two married quickly and have spent the past 20 years building their life together. Connelly has one child from a previous marriage and two children with Bettany. As a family, they enjoy summer holidays in the mountains north of New York City.
Both Connelly and Bettany are devoted parents, and they prioritize their children over their work. That's sometimes easier said than done because Bettany has recently starred in multiple Marvel MCU films as well as a Disney+ spin-off series, Wandavision, and Connelly continues to pick up new and interesting projects such as the sci-fi series Darkmatter. Yet the two have struck a healthy balance between work and family, and they seem happier than ever with the life they've built.
There isn't information about whether or not Jennifer Connelly has officiated any weddings as a Universal Life Church minister. Still, it's easy to imagine that the incredibly talented actor and dedicated family woman got ordained so that she could answer the call for friends and family.