Lucy Liu is fascinated by religion

Lucy Liu is fascinated by religion – because it can help people overcome problems in their lives.

The actress is open to all faiths, including controversial ones like Scientology and Kabbalah, because she believes if they can help individuals deal with issues that make them unhappy then that can only be a positive thing.

Lucy - who has attended Kabbalah courses at the religion's centre in New York – said: "I think it's unfortunate when people are against something that can bring so much guidance for people. I don't know much about Scientology – I know a little bit about it – but if it helps someone become less addicted to something, or not addicted, or if it helps someone recover from abuse, you can never say it's bad.

"Anything that has an odd or misinterpreted name. People malign the Catholic Church for sexual abuse and the discrepancies of wealth, but they just don't know. Or there's the same idea about people being Muslim. If you don't know enough about it, if it's scary and it's the unknown, it creates that enigmatic quality of distance, of disconnect, and I think that prevents you seeing someone else. You've already seen them before you've actually even met them."

The 'Charlie's Angels' star is happy to acknowledge she has studied Kabbalah – the mystical off-shoot of Judaism which has many celebrity followers including Madonna and Demi Moore – and is also intrigued by Buddhism which her mother is a devout believer.

Lucy – who has just opened her art show, 'Seventy Two', at London's Salon Vert Gallery - told The Guardian newspaper: "I had friends that were studying it (Kabbalah). It reminds me of Taoism. It's mind over matter, essentially, and I'm fascinated by that. But I'm also fascinated by Buddhism – my mother's a Buddhist. There are so many different things to study, so many different fragments that come together."