I needed a break - Ayo Edebiri says she left the church because of her LGBTQ friends

She said the idea that her gay and muslim friends wouldn't make it to heaven made her very sad.

Nigerian-American actress Ayo Edebiri has opened up about her reasons for leaving the pentecostal church she was born into.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the award-winning actress spoke on the significant shift she experienced in her religious beliefs after moving to New York.

Like many people with immigrant parents in America, she was said she was raised in a strict and religious home. Her mother attended a pentecostal church.

She said the church laid emphasis on modesty and gave no room for jewellery, skin showing, or form-fitting outfits. The church also preached on the second coming of Jesus, which she said increased her anxiety.

It was horrible for my anxiety, I was petrified of death. I was petrified of the rapture,” she said.