Leah Remini says Tom Cruise is not a nice guy and working with him was a 'nightmare' for her
Actress and former Scientologist Leah Remini said that Tom Cruise, who is undeniably the group's most famous member, is not the nice guy he seems to be. Remini, who has a new podcast, 'Scientology: Fair Game', spoke to the Daily Beast and said, "Tom has got away with being this 'nice guy' because that's what Scientology policy says — to create good public relations in the world and make those 'good actions' known." "But if you actually look at his actions, they're not consistent," she revealed. Remini shared how when she had been a member of the organization, she was called out by Scientology head David Miscavige for questioning their decision to use Cruise as a poster child.
"I learnt pretty quickly that that's not something you should be doing because Tom Cruise is considered a messiah in Scientology. This is a man who has not even seen his own daughter in years," she revealed. "That this guy can be running around and having people think he's this super-nice guy, I don't get it." Remini has been a very vocal critic of the Scientology organization after she was an active member for around 34 years.
After she quit, her mother, her husband Angelo Pagan and their daughter Sofia also left. Remini recently had an interview with Vulture where she said that working with Cruise had been a "nightmare". "I think Newton speaking out about what we all know Tom to be is not news to people who are or were Scientologists who know the truth. Because he is not a nice person," Remini said. "There was a time when Tom was a very nice person, but that was before he rededicated himself to David Miscavige in the 2000s," she added.
Remini also recently praised actress Thandie Newton who detailed how difficult it was to work with Cruise on the sets of the movie 'Mission Impossible ll' in 2020. In a recent episode of her podcast, Remini said, "That takes huge balls to do what she did, and if more people speak out in that way, and be brave enough to do so, I think we might get somewhere." Newton had played the role of Nyah Nordoff-Hall in the film around 20 years back. While speaking to Vulture, she revealed that she had been "terrified and insecure" on the sets of the movie.
Newton admitted, "I was so scared of Tom. He was a very dominant individual. He tries super hard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot." She recalled how they struggled with filming a scene in Spain. "So this scene was happening, and Tom was not happy with what I was doing because I had the s**ttiest lines, and he gets so frustrated," she shared. Newton added how Cruise had tried to improve the scene by getting them to switch roles for the practice. "It just pushed me further into a place of terror and insecurity. It was a real shame. And bless him. And I really do mean bless him, because he was trying his damnedest... He wasn't horrible. It was just — he was really stressed," she continued.