American actress Leah Remini credits Nicole Kidman with giving her the strength to leave the Church of Scientology.
US magazine says Leah, whose book about the church is rocketing up the bestseller lists in the US, regards Nicole as her ‘guardian angel’ – although the two have never met.
In her book Troublemaker, Leah says she ‘sometimes felt adrift’ after she left the church, where she’d been a member for more than 30 years.
“But I had one figure I kept front and center in my mind to keep from going crazy: Nicole Kidman. That’s right, Tom Cruise’s ex was my guardian angel. Although I never met her or attempted to meet her, I thought about her a lot,” she writes.
“While I stared at the dark ceiling at night, unable to sleep, I would say to myself, ‘Remember Nicole Kidman.’ She was declared an SP (a suppressed person, which is a negative term in the church) and left the church, and she’s doing okay. Her career is still going, and she has a husband and family… Just remember Nicole Kidman. She left and she’s okay”.
Kidman became a Scientologist after she married Tom Cruise in 1990. Following their divorce, their children, Isabella and Connor, stayed with Tom. Kidman went on to marry country star Keith Urban. She has two more children, a healthy career, and an Oscar, awarded to her after she split from Tom.
Leah says she ran into Nicole’s daughter, Isabella, at Tom’s subsequent wedding to Katie Holmes, and was ‘shocked’ when Bella told her that she rarely spoke to Nicole.
“When I asked if she talked to her Mom, Bella scoffed and said, “Not if I can help it, she’s a f–king SP [suppressed person]”. Connor just looked out the window. There was something human about his silence and the sadness I felt in it.”
