Entertainment | Celebrity

12 stars you didn’t know were Scientologists

Tom Cruise and John Travolta may be the public faces of the controversial "religion", but these celebs have also pledged their allegiance to Xenu

By Gemma White, Editor, Scene magazine
Published: 15:01 August 29, 2012

Image Credit: Getty Images
Jason Lee's ex-wife, Carmen Llywelyn, blames the "cult" for the demise of her marriage.

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Jason Lee
The My Name Is Earl star (as well as his co-star Ethan ‘Randy’ Suplee, who is married to fellow Scientologist and actress Juliette Lewis’s sister) are both Scientologists, with his ex-wife, Carmen Llywelyn, blaming the ‘cult’ for the demise of her marriage, saying Lee was “obsessed” with it. And rumour has it that Jason’s failure to land the part of The Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight is what lead to Katie Holmes not reprising her role of Rachel Dawes, after a furious Tom demanded she turn the role down in protest.

Peaches Geldof
The socialite joined the Church back in 2009 after splitting from her husband, musician
Max Drummey. “I’ve been [a Scientologist] for a while now. It’s like, I was confused about what path to go through and I feel like I needed a spiritual path,” she revealed. “I felt I was lacking something when I didn’t have a faith. In the end, all it’s about is making yourself a better person.”

Elisabeth Moss
The Mad Men actress who plays Peggy Olsen in the hit show has been a Scientologist for years, saying, “One of the most important things I take from my church is the idea of personal freedom and our rights as human beings.” However, the 30-year-old has slammed the Church’s stance on minority communities – which caused Oscarwinning Crash director, Paul Haggis, to quit – insisting, “If we’re all supposed to have the right to the life that we want to lead, then that should apply to [all] communit[ies].”

Danny Masterson
That 70’s Show actor – and bestie of Ashton Kutcher – Danny was raised as a Scientologist along with his brother, Christopher, who played trouble-making brother Francis in Malcolm In The Middle. “I have always been in Scientology my entire life,” says Danny. “Each service in Scientology is something I have added to my toolbox of data for living.”

Bijou Phillips
The actress, model and professional celebuspawn (her late father is John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas) married fellow Scientologist Danny Masterson in Ireland last year. And the 32-yearold adheres to the Church’s pathological hatred of psychiatry, ranting, “My grandparents didn’t take any pills, and they were fine. Just buck up and get over it. Stop being such a ******* pansy.”

Leah Remini
The King Of Queens actress and close pal of Jennifer Lopez is a vocal proponent of the CoS, and famously declared herself to have been the first person to have seen Suri Cruise after her birth. “Scientology gives you hope and the certainty that you can improve any condition,” she gushes. “This, to me, is priceless.”

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David Lopez
Yep, J-Lo’s dad is a long-time Scientologist, which has lead to claims that the Dance Again diva herself dabbles in CoS teachings. “My dad has been a Scientologist for 20 years,” she said back in 2007. “It’s weird people want to paint it in a negative way. I, myself, am Catholic.”

Beck
The Loser singer is a second generation Scientologist (fun fact: his midwife mum helped deliver fellow Scientologist, Friends and Avatar actor Giovanni Ribisi), and is also married to Giovanni’s twin sister, Marissa. “There’s whole aspects [of Scientology] that you probably don’t see,” he insists. “They have the success rate of getting hard-core addicts off drugs, 90-something per cent maybe.”

Juliette Lewis
The Cape Fear and Natural Born Killers star has long advocated a Scientology lifestyle, and insiders claim Brad Pitt dumped her after she encouraged him to take some of the ‘religion’s’ courses. “Having achieved the state of Clear is the single most important thing that I’ve done for myself,” she says. “It has allowed me to experience life in a way I only imagined.”

Jerry Seinfeld
Once the highest paid man on television, although Jerry claims he hasn’t studied Scientology (or should that be Sein-tology?) in over 30 years, the multimillionaire comedian credits the ‘religion’ with launching his career, calling their teachings “fabulous”. “I took a couple courses a number of years ago that I thought were fabulous,” he said. “I learned a lot and I had a good experience with it. I think the stuff I learned there really did help me a lot… I learned some things about communication that really got my act going.”

Giovanni Ribisi
The Avatar star, who recently wed British model Agyness Deyn, was raised as a Scientologist, and insists, “There is a certain aspect of Scientology that helped me stay on my own path in creating life as a new game.”

Bart Simpson
Ok, well not Bart exactly, but the woman who voices the iconic character, Nancy Cartwright, has been a Scientologist since 1998. “Before Scientology I had one dream of making a living, doing voice-overs for animation,” she says. “After I became a Scientologist my abilities expanded so far and above what I originally dreamed for myself that I’ve amazed even myself at my enormous increase of abilities.”