March is the worst month. Award season is over, no big movies are out until summer, football is over, baseball hasn't started, and the only good holiday is St. Patrick's Day. That doesn't count though, since anyone who enjoys the day can't remember it. Know what has happened in March? Julius Caesar was killed - and that happened 2,000 years ago. Luckily every four years a leap year give us one more day before March's beginning. Unfortunately, this is a year without a Feb. 29, so we're making our own leap here. In honor of Leap Year and our need to find a spiritual sustenance to help make it through the most boring month, we searched our souls and came up with the top 10 celebrity "leaps of faith," both literal and figurative.
10) Brian "Head" Welch of Korn - In 2005, guitarist Brian Welch, a.k.a. Head, left the n??-metal band Korn to rededicate his life to Christianity. His sudden switch from rock to religion was a shock to most fans, who were used to seeing him screaming his backing vocals alongside singer Jonathan Davis. Don't believe us? Check out his awesomely named Web site HeadtoChrist.com, which actually doesn't look that different from a heavy metal band's site.
9) Little Richard - After envisioning his own damnation in 1957, Little Richard quit rock 'n' roll, at least for a little while. He became an ordained minister in the Church of God of the Ten Commandments until he got tired of that and went back to rocking out. Maybe he thought eternal hellfire wouldn't be so bad.
8) The Highlander - According to Master Shake of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," to become Immortal the Highlander, you must make a very literal leap of faith. While we'll acknowledge that it takes guts to jump off a cliff, it didn't end so well for Shake.
7) Mel Gibson - Though it takes a lot of religious conviction to make a movie about Jesus, it is a true sign of a leap of faith to guilt trip millions of devout Christians into seeing your movie. Jesus couldn't have said it better: "Love thy neighbor, and if there's ever a big Hollywood movie starring me, you'd damn well better see it!"
6) King Henry VIII - It is one thing to leap into faith, but the Daily, encouraging creativity, admires Henry's success: Not only did he leap, but he leapt into a religion of his own making. Ironically, this epic leap was inspired by his slightly overzealous leap into marriage to produce strong, healthy soon-to-be Kings of England. Too bad he decided to continue leaping from wife to wife, never quite achieving his goal, or for that matter, any sort of redemption.
5) Tom Cruise - Maybe you've heard about this one. Despite Cruise's miniature stature, he has achieved quite the infamous leap. Not only has he dived right into Scientology, he has transformed his public image from juicy piece of man Ethan Hunt in "Mission Impossible" (1996) to insane Brooke-Shields-bashing scientologist zealot. His performance on "Oprah" was also pretty bouncy, demonstrated by his sporadic leap onto her couch.4) Bob Dylan - When he recorded "Gotta Serve Somebody," Dylan wasn't "Talkin' World War III Blues" anymore and may have been having visions of more than just Johanna, having become a born-again Christian in 1979. Born a Zimmerman, his religious life has gone through a lot of changes, but two predominately Gospel-influenced albums led some fans astray.
3) Madonna - Like a virgin, the late '90s led Madonna on a more virtuous life path, as she began to practice in the Kabbalah tradition of Judaism, adopting Esther as her Biblical name. She has donated millions of her own money to the Kabbalah centers in New York, London and LA, and can never be caught without her red string bracelet. So fans, don't count on seeing her on a Friday night anytime soon.
2) George Lucas - The creator of "Star War" has been known to state his religion as "Buddhist Methodist." While we're not really sure what that means, it probably wouldn't be going out on a limb to say that it involves some sort of mystical "force" and a small, green wise man offering guiding principles.
1) Indiana Jones - In his quest for the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones had to make leaps both literal and figurative. Indy's sudden realization that faith in God would allow him to overcome obstacles (a huge cliff, a deadly swinging blade and scary projectile weapons) keeping him from the Holy Grail was more impressive than outrunning Nazis.
-compiled by Daily Arts Staff
