David Henrie Says Beauty Can Point People to God in New Series Set in Italy
Michael Foust
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By Michael Foust, Crosswalk.com
David Henrie became a household name in Hollywood through projects such as Wizards of Waverly Place and How I Met Your Mother, but says he now wants to devote more time to work that reflects his faith and honors the God who saved him.
His newest project is the six-part series Seeking Beauty with David Henrie, in which he explores Italy’s culture, architecture, food, art, and music in search of beauty that points to God. It is available on EWTN+, which calls the series a “first-of-its-kind adventure documentary” that brings together audiences from all walks of life. Of course, Henrie also visits the country’s popular religious sites, including the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.
Henrie said Europeans of past centuries believed the beauty found in chapels, statues, paintings, and other works could lead people to Christ, a theme Seeking Beauty explores.
“They really saw beauty as a reflection of the Divine, and to strip that out of society, they realized, would be to strip God out of society,” he told Crosswalk Headlines.
Henrie himself is a lover of art and architecture, saying he enjoys exploring different cultures and sees himself as learning alongside viewers throughout the series.
Millions of visitors from every faith – and no faith – tour Italy’s historic religious sites each year and leave with a testimony to the story of Scripture, Henrie said.
“The first thing that they do when they go into these churches is they look up, they walk in, and their eyes are instantly drawn upward to the heavens. And that was very intentional,” he said of the religious artwork that covers the churches. “The old churches were trying to build a little heaven on earth – were trying to give you a divine experience, were trying to witness to you without having to speak.”
The average person centuries ago often could not read, Henrie said, yet still understood the story of Scripture, thanks in part to the religious artwork in churches and across the landscape.
“Especially for us Bible-believing Christians, that's a hard concept to grasp,” Henrie said. “... They created churches that were a living Bible. They gave you images and experiences of things that were stories that Jesus handed down.”
Henrie recounted an experience in which he was led to the roof of a cathedral in Italy and given an up-close view of statues that appear small to the people below. Yet those figures were carved with astonishing detail – including, he said, veins in the statues’ eyelids. Such details, he said, were crafted not for the people below, but for God.
“The people at the time knew that some things were just for God, and that was a common experience,” he said.
Much of the architecture, he said, took decades – and sometimes centuries – to complete, meaning it would not be finished until long after its builders were gone.
“They built it, knowing that they would be dead by the time it was done,” he said. “... They knew the importance of what these buildings represented to the people.”
Seeking Beauty is but one of the projects from his production company, Novo Inspire Studios, that has a goal of creating more inspirational content. The series’ second season will explore Spain.
Henrie became a household name in his teens thanks to series like That’s So Raven, Wizards of Waverly Place, and How I Met Your Mother. He came to faith in Christ in his early 20s.
“I was steeped in relativism, steeped in agnosticism, just like a Hollywood kid working, you know – I had a great career and just wasn't paying any attention to it,” he told Crosswalk Headlines, referencing faith. “But I had a restlessness that began to grow in my heart. I knew that I needed something that wasn't material. I knew I needed something spiritual, something that could be everlasting. And it led to a massive conversion point in my life, a massive change. I'm 36 now. I have three kids, married eight years, but I was about 21 or 22 – it was actually 2012 – when I made the change.
“And it has since radically changed my life.”
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Photo Credit: ©EWTN
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
