It's not clear exactly when Tom Cruise began to call himself a
Scientologist. In 1989, a Church of Scientology publication included Cruise
(using his real name, Thomas Mapother) and his cousin on a list of those
who'd just completed a basic Scientology course. It's probable that his
entrance to the church occurred while he was married to actress Mimi
Rogers. The daughter of two former hard-core Scientology members, Rogers is
a lifelong follower. Recruiting family members into the church is
commonplace. According to a close relative of Rogers, Cruise started his
involvement with Scientology while he and Rogers were going through some
marriage-counseling sessions at the church. Whatever the case, Cruise was a
big fish. The church is not shy about the usefulness of such a celebrity.
Though L.A. church president Shirley Young denies Scientology pursues
celebs, an internal memo dated January 26, 1992, describes them as
"resources to forward the expansion of Scientology through the arts." And
this is not just any celebrity. "Tom is pretty much seen as the messiah,"
says a former church member. Through religious choice -- as an icily
indignant Kingsley informed me over the phone -- is a personal matter, the
influence of the star's faith is becoming more and more apparent both on
location and in his business dealings. The engine that drives Scientology
is the concept of "getting clear," exorcising "the painful experiences of
your life" that interfere with rational thought. It's achieved through a
process called auditing, which is done with an "auditor" and a device
called an "E-meter," more or less a kind of primitive polygraph. In
essence, Scientology is all about gaining control of one's self and one's
environment. It's the control facet that seems to appeal to Cruise. On the
set of A Few Good Men, for example, crew members thought it amusing when
Cruise insisted his assistant, Michael Doven, be called his "communicator."
A "Tom look-alike," according to one of the crew, Doven wore the star's
"bat utility belt," complete with cellular phone and water bottle.
According to the Basic Dictionary of Dianetics and Scientology, a
communicator is "the person who keeps an executive's communication lines
(body, dispatch, intercom and phone) moving or controlled. The communicator
helps an executive free his or her time for essential income-earning
actions, rest or recreation and prolongs the term of appointment of the
executive by safeguarding against overload." Other ex-Scientologists, too,
claim Cruise routinely encouraged people who worked for him to take the
church's courses. His secretary has been listed in Celebrity magazine,
another church publication, as having successfully completed at least one.
When asked if any of his staff were church members, Cruise (through
Kingsley) rifled back, "I don't ask any employee or prospective employee
what his or her religion is. Isn't that against the law? If now, why not?"
Cruise, however, did say Kidman "learned Scientology from me and then
investigated for herself." The Scientology connection could also be part of
an apparent conflict between Cruise and Don Simpson. Simpson, who produced
Cruise's Top Gun and Days of Thunder with partner Jerry Bruckheimer, had a
falling-out years ago with the Church of Scientology. According to Leisa
Goodman, a church representative in L.A., Simpson left because "he couldn't
live up to the ethical standards of the church." In a recent Premiere
article, Simpson referred to the church as "a con" and went on to say, "I'm
chagrined to say I almost went clear -- did the E-meter, the whole thing."
Certainly, Simpson was not doing the E-meter during the filming of Days of
Thunder. When he balked at using Clearsound on that project, according to a
production exec, Scientology head David Miscavige actually came on the set
to lobby for use of the machine. According to one source, "Simpson told
them to fuck off," and then the producer pulled Cruise aside and told him
church representatives were not welcome. According to ex-members, Simpson's
comments would normally qualify him as an "SP," a "suppressive person," one
who "actively seeks to suppress or damage Scientology." Many ex-members who
join groups like the Cult Awareness Network or speak to the press are
branded as such. But in order to be labeled a suppressive, the person must
first be "declared," or officially designated, by the church. Goodman,
although openly disdainful of Simpson, insists he has not been officially
declared. Even so, he's not on anybody's Top 10 list. The only question of
mine Cruise refused to answer dealt with his feelings toward Simpson. "Don
Simpson's relationship to Scientology is his business," he said, "just as
my relationship to Scientology is my business." What is clear is that
Cruise is not going to be making Top Gun II with him. Simpson conceived the
original Top Gun in 1986, after reading a piece about the elite
fighter-pilot school in the now defunct California. It was he who elected
to hire the young actor and who brought him from Star on the Brink to Icon.
When Simpson left Paramount in 1990 for Disney, he took certain rights to
the movie -- chief among them the right of first refusal to produce any
sequel for Paramount. According to a source close to Simpson and
Bruckheimer, a few months ago, Paramount honcho Sherry Lansing called to
discuss a sequel. However, the source says, it was supposedly presented to
the production pair as a "cheapo knockoff," and it was "insinuated" that
the star would be Val Kilmer, not Cruise. Since the offer was $750,000 to
produce -- Simpson and Bruckheimer were guaranteed $500,000 from the sequel
no matter what -- they felt it was not worth the extra $250,000 to produce
a Kilmer film. Simpson wanted $2 million and wouldn't budge. A few weeks
after Simpson turned down the deal, a Nevada newspaper broke the story that
locations were being scouted for the sequel. It would be about the first
female pilot in the program -- and Cruise, with CW Productions, the company
Cruise heads with former agent Paula Wagner, was not only going to produce
the picture, it was a near certainty he would star in it as well. Simpson
was not amused. A Paramount spokesman says, "Really, the words Val Kilmer
were never uttered," and he insists the negotiations with Simpson and
Bruckheimer are "very well documented" and "I'm sorry we couldn't make a
deal with them. They have made millions for the company." Cruise, however,
isn't talking. Kingsley says, "This is between Paramount and Simpson."
Perhaps not so coincidentally, Cruise's aversion to the media also seems to
reflect what numerous ex-Scientologists contend is the church's basic
mistrust of the press. According to former members, the church's top
managers view the media with contempt, and reporters are known as
suppressive persons. Former Scientologists insist, too, that high-level
members of the church, including Cruise, have been given "reporter training
regimens," outlining ways they should handle themselves with reporters. One
confidential memo instructs members on "fending a suppressive TV
interviewer," how to be "knowingly covertly hostile" and "stalling for
time." Finally, there's a section on "bullbaiting," or "training the
student to outflow false data effectively." While Scientology spokespersons
scoff at the notion of the church training its members to handle
interviews, members do concede there is a great deal of cynicism toward the
Fourth Estate. Founder L. Ron Hubbard's Code of Honor states: "Do not give
or receive communication unless you yourself desire it." Stephanie
Mansfield, who interviewed Cruise for a profile in GQ, wrote: "He has
turned petulant. Steely. Behavior so far from his good-natured screen
persona that I am temporarily stunned into silence. Being chewed out by Tom
Cruise is not a pleasant experience." And what was Mansfield's crime? In
researching her piece, she spoke to a number of friends from Cruise's
childhood. "He blew up," Mansfield said. "He kept saying, 'Who did you talk
to? Who did you talk to?'" Later, he referred to the article as a "covert
operation," a popular term with the Church of Scientology. Maybe the
hardest question to answer is how much Cruise's growing involvement with
the Church of Scientology is affecting his movies. His high-water
performances -- Born on the Fourth of July, Rain Man and The Color of Money
-- were all done with directors who were at least as powerful as Cruise
himself, who had the prestige to keep Cruise focused. They were also done
before his church involvement hit its stride. Ever since Days of Thunder,
Cruise has had to contend with "suppressive persons," Scientology sound
machines, a divorce from a church member and a "covert" press. "I have
found -- and I suspect that it is still the case 11 years later -- that Tom
really listens," says Tisch. "If he respects the people he is working with,
then he really solicits a lot of attention." Still, one could make a good
case that even while A Few Good Men and The Firm were blockbusters, his
work in these films was rather pedestrian. Unlike, say, Rain Man or Fourth
of July, it was just Cruise playing Cruise. Which brings us to the issue of
Interview with the Vampire, to be directed by The Crying Game's Neil Jordan
and over which Cruise's casting as Lestat has cause such a mini furor. "I'm
in a state of shock," Rice said at the time. "This casting is so bizarre.
The movie could be one of the biggest disasters of all time." "I don't care
about Anne Rice's comments!" says the film's producer, David Geffen. "She's
only concerned with the sycophants who write to her. Tom certainly has the
capacity to play any part he wants. He is smart enough to play characters
that are not right up his alley. He's the biggest star in the world. The
fact that he wants to play a dark and complicated role is a tribute to
him." Geffen, of course, is right. Tom Cruise does have the capacity to
pull it off. He has an Oscar nomination for Born on the Fourth of July --
the one film nobody though he could pull off. It's just a matter of whether
he's clear, whether there are suppressives on the set and whether Jordan
will put up with it.
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