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The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.

Liza Colón-Zayas of "The Bear" speaks honestly about her struggles with faith

The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.

America Media

Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.91.2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2026

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you’ve watched “The Bear” you’ve seen the incredible talent of the Emmy award-winning supporting actress, Liza Colón-Zayas, who plays Tina. But you might not know that Liza has overcome great spiritual hardship on her journey to noterirty. She joins her friend and host of “The Spiritual Life” podcast Fr. James Martin, S.J. to talk about her Catholic upbringing, how she escaped a cult, persevered through the ups and downs of the entertainment industry, and where she finds hope in her ancestral roots today. 0:00 Faith at its best reflects social justice 2:15 Liza plays a Puerto Rican Mother Teresa 5:10 How Liza persevered in Hollywood 9:20 Liza’s early struggles with faith communities 14:09 Doing away with the “parole officer” image of God 22:45 A spiritual practice of breathing meditations and gratitude 25:37 The power of discovering ancestral roots 33:00 The Catholic church and sexual abuse 34:55 Dealing with success and imposter’s syndrome 36:34 Audience Question: Taking less money for a spiritually fulfilling job? Link to Father Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode: ‘The Bear’ actress Liza Colón-Zayas’s spiritual journey—to agnosticism https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2026/05/11/liza-colon-zayas-spiritual-life/ Do you have a spiritual question for Father Jim? You can write to us at: thespirituallife@americamedia.org Become a subscriber today at Americamagazine.org/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Why does the term health care leave people feeling sick to their stomach? Maybe it's because instead

0:04.5

of being tied to health, the word seems to have a deeper connection to industries. At Catholic

0:09.5

Health Care, we're returning the word health care back to its former glory, because when

0:13.9

health care really cares, communities thrive, prevention is prioritized, and everyone has access to

0:19.9

care. Say it with me, health everyone has access to care.

0:21.5

Say it with me.

0:22.4

Health care.

0:24.0

Sounds better already.

0:25.5

Catholic Health Care.

0:26.6

We Care.

0:27.8

You flourish.

0:30.2

Sponsored by the Catholic Health Association.

0:50.1

It reminded me that I need to advocate more for Puerto Rico and educate myself more and lend my voice to some of those causes, make things more equitable.

0:58.4

And I think that when faith is at his best, it reflects social justice.

1:08.9

Welcome to the spiritual life. I'm Father Jim Martin. On this podcast, we reflect on how people experience God in their prayer and in their daily

1:11.6

lives. And I am joined by my always wonderful producer, Maggie Van Dorn. Maggie, good to be

1:17.0

with you. It's great to be with you, Jim. And I'm really excited for the guest we have today.

1:22.8

This is an interview unlike any other. And that guest is Liza Colon-Zeyas. Yes, my good friend. I think it's the

1:31.9

first time I've interviewed a really good friend and it's a lot of fun. So why do you tell us,

1:37.0

for those who don't know, about Liza? Sure. So Liza Colon-Zeyas is an American actress and playwright.

1:45.7

She was born and raised in the Bronx, New York City, and began her career off Broadway. Liza broke into mainstream theater when

1:51.8

she wrote, produced, and starred in a one-woman show titled Sista Supreme, a semi-autobiographical

...

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