Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington, known for his roles in films like Training Day and Glory, professed his Christian faith in a recent interview promoting his new film, The Tragedy of Macbeth, wherein the actor questioned those individuals who “are willing to do anything to get followed.”

“I’m more interested in directing because I’m more interested in helping others,” Washington told The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, adding, “What I do, what I make, what I made — all of that — is that going to help me on the last day of my life? It’s about, Who have you lifted up? Who have we made better?”

The Man on Fire actor continued, “This is spiritual warfare. So, I’m not looking at it from an earthly perspective. If you don’t have a spiritual anchor you’ll be easily blown by the wind and you’ll be led to depression.”

Remembering his late father, who was an ordained Pentecostal minister, Washington recalled, “That’s what got my father, he couldn’t give up the meat and fried foods,” and asked Dowd whether she had read the Bible, encouraging the reporter to “Start with the New Testament, because the Old Testament is harder. You get caught up in the who-begot-who-begot-who thing.”