'Black Panther' star Letitia Wright shares powerful testimony of how she came to know Jesus
Article By Britney Daniels // EEW Magazine // Christian Hollywood
Christian actress Letitia Wright may be best known for her role as Princess Shuri of Wakanda in Marvel’s Black Panther, but she gives all praise and glory to the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
Recently, at a Tulsa, Oklahoma ministry conference, the 25-year-old told the gripping story of how God saved her at one of the lowest points in her life.
“I wasn’t always a Christian, and I went through a period in my life when acting was my God, and I really worshiped it,” said Wright during a live panel discussion hosted by Pastor Michael Todd of Transformation Church.
“I really wanted to be successful. I would compare myself to my other friends. I would look at my past films and be hard on myself, and it was just really, really dark.”
Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty
The Guyana-born Avengers: Infinity War star, who relocated to the UK as a child with her mother, has been in pursuit of her acting dream since age 16, when she enrolled in the London Identity School of Acting. But even as her career started taking off, she admitted, she wasn’t happy and knew something was wrong.”
In 2015, after the Toronto Film Festival, on her way to Canada, Wright, who battles depression, said, “I remember I just heard this voice. It was just like, ‘You’re going to take a break—a big break after this.’”
She said she initially rejected the voice, especially because she had jobs lined up. However reluctant she was to listen, she said, “That voice was really true.”
After returning home, before being branded one of London’s most famous and influential celebrities, Wright said, “Something was missing, and I didn’t know what it was, but I had to find out.”
Marvel Studios
At that time, she believes it was divine intervention when she took notice of her Christian friends’ “light.”
According to Wright, they seemed to have “peace, and joy, and serenity, and I noticed that they had something that I didn’t have, but I was too scared to approach it.”
On top of fear, Wright said she had the wrong perception of Jesus and saw Him as “a white guy with blonde hair and blue eyes,” that couldn’t relate to her.
“It was so warped in my mind,” she continued. “It was not correct.”
Despite her misgivings, she said God would line her up with Christian friends, and they would meet her and say, “Do you want to go to Bible study?”
Letitia Wright attends the Los Angeles Global Premiere for Marvel Studios Avengers: Infinity War (Credit” Charley Gallay/Getty)
Wright noted, that previously, “They would never ask me this. And I’d be like, Yes! And then I’d be like, why did I say that? I don’t even know what the Bible is. I don’t even know what chapter to turn to. I don’t even know—how do you do that?”
Wright, who said “Jesus was my last hope,” had a whole lot she didn’t know, but God was about to teach her.
One day, crippled by deep depression and huddled in a dark room, a friend called and said, “Something’s not right, and God told me to call you…I don’t feel that you’re in the right place.”
She burst into tears, admitting she wasn’t happy and didn’t know what to do. That’s when her Christian friend suggested trying Jesus.
Wright said she asked him, “How do I relate to this Jesus you talk of? Like, I don’t think that’s for me. And he was just like, ‘At least try.’ He was like, ‘I tried Him. He helped me.’ So he said, ‘I’m gonna give you Matthew 6:33.’ And then he said that I should seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness.”
For others on a faith journey, also seeking their purpose, Wright advised them to pursue “intimacy” with God. “None of this can happen without first having intimacy with the Father. He’s so amazing. His love is so deep,” she said.
“Let’s just be for Him. I know it’s not easy. I know it’s not just a click of the finger thing. But every day, let’s just seek the Father and the Father alone, and everything will manifest. Everything will come together,” she said.
Wright will appear in the upcoming Black Panther sequel coming in 2022.
