Tom Cruise, one of the world’s most famous Scientologists, almost quit the church entirely after being let into their inner circle.
Cruise is not just one of the most famous Scientologists in the world, but arguably one of the most famous actors around.
Ahead of the upcoming release of Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, rumoured to be the final film in the franchise, many will be discussing the actor even more.
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Whilst he is now predominantly known for his role as Ethan Hunt in the action film franchise, for years he was arguably known for two things: Jerry Maguire and being a scientologist.
The actor was a fervent supporter and advocate of the church in the 2000s, saying in a 2004 interview with Rolling Stone: “Some people, well, if they don't like Scientology, well, then, f*ck you.”
He joined the church in 1986, being recruited by his first wife Mimi Rogers.
Janet Reitman, however, wrote in her book Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion about how he at one point almost left the church entirely.
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Reitman recalls how the church had spent millions of dollars on keeping Cruise happy and a core member of the church but revealed that changed when he reached a certain level within the religion.
Scientology operates on a system of levels on a ‘bridge to total freedom’, through which someone can be considered to achieve spiritual freedom.
Cruise reached the level of OT3 in 1993, seven years after he began studying the religion.
This tier allowed him knowledge about the religion's extraterrestrial leader Xenu, as well as a number of other secrets.
Reitman stated that Cruise had what is not considered an ‘atypical reaction’ to this tier. She said: “He freaked out and was like ‘What the f*ck is this science fiction sh*t?’”
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Karen Pressley, who wrote a book about how she ‘escaped’ the high profile cult, said of Tom Cruise’s freak out: “From my recollection, Tom went kind of crazy when he reached that level.”
She pointed to the fact that this is before the internet, and therefore before the absolutely wild tenets of Scientology became public.
She said: “As a dedicated Scientologist, following the rules, he would have never heard of Xenu, body thetans – any of that stuff. Finding out that this was what Scientology was about I’m sure came as quite a shock.”
He spent several years away from the church before, in 1999, a man was sent to ‘retrieve’ Cruise for the church.
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As of a couple years later he was successful, with Reitman describing him as a ‘zealot’.
In recent years however, rumours have spread that Cruise, who now lives in London away from the predominantly LA based Scientology, has distanced from the church.
He has not spoken publicly about being a Scientologists in year, but has not been reported to have fully left the cultish religion just yet.
Topics: Tom Cruise, Religion, Mission Impossible, Celebrity
Michael Slavin