Tom Cruise lives in fiction, in the box office and in real life.
The “Mission Impossible ” star has long been a fixture in the mysterious Church of Scientology. In fact, famous defector Leah Remini, host of the hit A&E series “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath,” once described him as second in line to church leader David Miscavige, whom believers regard as “the savior of the free world.”
Now, according to a report from Page Six, Cruise is officially “considered a deity within Scientology.”
While Cruise hasn’t been very public about his church membership in recent years, he was spotted earlier this month at the organization’s so-called “spiritual mecca” in Clearwater, Florida, where Miscavige hosted a celebration for what is the most important day on the church’s calendar, late founder L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday.
The 56-year-old celebrity is of nearly unparalleled importance to Scientologists.
It was recently revealed to Page Six that lower-level church members are often bused out to see Cruise’s movies, often more than once. Church leaders also purchase tickets to the latest installments in both the “Jack Reacher” and “Mission Impossible” franchises.
Former Scientologist Bree Mood, who defected a few months ago, told the outlet: “Tom Cruise was a god in the lower ranks . . . every time a Tom Cruise movie came out, they’d buy all his tickets. It could be 500, 1,000, up to 2,500 people. I’m not kidding.”
News of Cruise’s absurd — even fictional — “deification” comes the same week it was reported his daughter Isabella, whom he adopted with ex-wife Nicole Kidman, is emerging as a recruiter for the cultish organization.
In a lengthy testimonial, Cruise’s daughter, who goes by Bella, has claimed her “auditing adventure” saved her life by instilling within her the sense of meaning she “had been searching for.”
“We all need to do this,” she wrote of her experience. “It’s hard work…but it is worth everything, because you will get through.” Bella also thanked her father, writing she “would have drowned in my own problems if you hadn’t been there to [support] me.”