Tom Cruise is an A-list movie star known around the world for his action roles, and he gives credit for his success to his religion, Scientology, and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
“It’s something that has helped me incredibly in my life,” said Cruise, 54, to ITV News. “I’ve been a Scientologist for over 30 years. It’s something, you know, without it, I wouldn’t be where I am. So it’s a beautiful religion. I’m incredibly proud.”
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The Jack Reacher star claims that without Scientology, he may have never overcome one of his biggest life obstacles: dyslexia.
“I asked myself if I was normal or an idiot,” he said. “I would try to concentrate but I felt anxiety, frustration, boredom. When I graduated from high school in 1980 I was functionally illiterate.”
Cruise’s first wife, Mimi Rogers, introduced the actor to Scientology in 1990, and his career (which was already burgeoning at a fair clip) took off after joining the church.
When Cruise married third wife, actress Katie Holmes, in 2006, head of Scientology David Miscavige served as his best man. There have long been rumours that Scientology was one of the main reasons Holmes filed for divorce in 2012 after six years of marriage — apparently she didn’t want their daughter Suri being brought up in the church.
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Scientology was created in 1954 by Hubbard, who was a science-fiction writer. He claimed that billions of extraterrestrials were sent to Earth by Xenu (the dictator of the “Galactic Confederacy,” which is made up of 26 stars and 76 planets, including Earth), who gathered the ETs by volcanoes and destroyed them with atomic bombs. The souls of the aliens then attached themselves to specific humans — known as thetans — who, on a day of reckoning, will be saved from their lives of spiritual suffering.
Cruise is currently one of the highest-ranking Scientologists, and has been hailed by leaders as the potential “chosen one” who will help spread the word of Scientology.
Cruise’s recent success can be questioned, however, since the audience reception to Jack Reacher: Never Go Back has been more tepid than expected. Aside from some rather nasty critical responses, Jack Reacher 2 was beaten at the box office by Boo! A Madea Halloween, which is a shocking turnout considering Cruise’s star power.
The movie itself generated US$24.7 million gross (U.S. and Canada) over its first weekend, not even half of its $60 million production budget. For perspective, Madea brought in US$27 million over the same period of time.
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