Leah Remini Reacts to Thandie Newton's Tom Cruise Claims
Team Thandie. Leah Remini wasn’t surprised to hear about Thandie Newton‘s “nightmare” experience working with Tom Cruise on Mission: Impossible 2.
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Earlier this month, the Westworld star, 47, admitted that she felt “so scared” of Cruise, 58, who pushed her “into a place of terror and insecurity” while filming the 2000 action movie. In a new interview with The Daily Beast, Remini, 50, praised Newton for coming forward with her story.
“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,” Remini said on Thursday, July 23. “Tom has gotten away with being this ‘nice guy,’ because that’s what Scientology policy says — to create good PR in the world and make those ‘good actions’ known. But if you actually look at his actions, they’re not consistent.”
The Kevin Can Wait actress left the Church of Scientology in 2013 and has been a vocal critic of the organization, which hails Cruise as one of their most famous members. Her Emmy-winning documentary series, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, aired for three seasons between 2016 and 2019, working to expose the Church’s alleged darkest secrets. In July 2019, Us Weekly confirmed that Remini was “considering taking legal action” against the organization.
“She’s met with lawyers,” a source revealed. “She alleges she’s been spied on and followed by people working on behalf of the church.”
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A spokesperson from the Church denied the actress’ “conspiracy theories” at the time, but Remini hasn’t stopped speaking out against the organization and the Top Gun actor.
“When I was in Scientology I got in trouble in Scientology for saying, ‘Why is this guy the poster child for Scientology? He can’t keep a f–kin’ marriage together, he’s jumping on couches,'” she told the Daily Beast. “That this guy can be running around and having people think he’s this super-nice guy, I don’t get it. But that’s the Hollywood-bullshit game people play. … I think that [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.”
While speaking with New York magazine earlier this month, Newton went into detail about Cruise’s behavior on the set of the spy film, claiming that he would get “really frustrated” with her performances.
“He was a very dominant individual,” she said. “He tries super hard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot. And I think he has this sense that only he can do everything as best as it can be done. … He wasn’t horrible. It was just — he was really stressed. I had the most extraordinary time.”
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In the same interview, the British actress remembered Cruise giving her a book about Scientology for Christmas that was “a bit like a Bible.” At the time, Newton was “curious” about the organization, but changed her tune after receiving the gift from her “generous and open” costar.
“It’s like, ‘Wow, if it’s going to attract people, powerful, high-profile people, there’s got to be some glue that sticks this s–t together,'” she recalled. “Didn’t find any.”
