By Rita Chioma,

Unlike some of her colleagues who have turned babymamas and divorcées, 33-year-old Yvonne Orji is saving herself for marriage, as she explains her dedication to her Christian faith in a new interview.

Orji says she’s happy to talk about the subject in hopes that it’ll help people understand, telling  People: “I wasn’t going to hide it just because I’m on TV.”

“I’m open, because why not?” she tells PEOPLE. “I’m grounded in who I am.”

She adds, “Before any of the fame happened, I sat down with myself and with God and thought, when I make it, how do you want me to represent you while I’m here?” .

The HBO star says she answered her own question: “It was like, OK, I know why I’m here. It’s to make you proud.”

Orji says she’s always more than willing to explain her decision to anyone who inquires.

“People ask about it because they’re curious, or they may not understand,” she says. “How will they ever get to understand if I don’t talk about it? I can inform your curiosity, as opposed to everyone being in the dark and just sort of creating their own narrative about it.”