Hollywood's biggest star of the era, almost became a Catholic priest; was kicked out for stealing alcohol

Indian Express

10-07-2025

Hollywood without Mission: Impossible is hard to even imagine. But what if we told you that it might've never happened if Tom Cruise had taken a completely different path? Most people know he used to wrestle in school and even considered going professional. But what many don't know is that before Scientology, Cruise was a devout Roman Catholic, just like his ex-wife Katie Holmes once was. In fact, he was so committed, he even joined a seminary to train as a priest. At the time, he was living with his mom and sisters, his father had walked out when he was just 13.
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A priest named Father Ric Schneider noticed young Cruise's growing interest in religion and brought him into St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati. Cruise stuck around for a year—he liked the prayers, daily Mass, the whole routine, but deep down, he knew this wasn't it. In an interview with the New York Daily News, Cruise's old schoolmate Shane Dempler recalled, 'We went to Mass, spent time in the chapel, and enjoyed hearing stories from the priests. We thought the priests had a great lifestyle, and we were really into the idea of priesthood.'
'Tom was instantly hooked,' Father Ric added. 'I think he wanted a solid education. With his parents splitting up, things were rough. Maybe that's why he came here.' This was back in the '70s. Cruise, then still Tom Mapother, was just a teenager living in Louisville. After the divorce, his mom packed up and moved the kids to Kentucky. One day at school, Cruise came across Father Ric, who was with the Order of Friars Minor. At the end of his talk, the priest asked if any boys were interested in joining the seminary. Cruise raised his hand.
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Father Ric later visited the house, a simple setup, nothing fancy, and gave Cruise an IQ test to see if he could handle the academics. He barely passed. But by fall 1976, Cruise was in, one of 68 freshmen at St. Francis Seminary. No one thought he'd last. Father Ric remembers him as a smiling kid, the type who'd pull a prank or trip someone for a laugh. Crooked teeth, one chipped. Not the smartest or strongest in the room, but the personality stood out.
Shane Dempler, speaking to the New York Daily News, shared how Cruise and a few others got into trouble for sneaking booze. 'I tossed about six, most broke, but we managed to get a couple and stash them in the woods,' he said, adding that the priests had no clue. But later, some boys found the hiding spot, snuck in, got drunk, and ended up getting caught. 'The school sent letters to our parents saying they liked us both, but would prefer if we didn't return. So we weren't exactly kicked out, just preferred not to go back,' Dempler said.
What really flipped the switch for Cruise was Father Aubert Grieser, the drama and speech teacher. He'd throw the quietest kids on stage just to shake the fear out of them. For Cruise, that moment made him realise, what he wanted. Less than a year later, he walked out of seminary life, and later summed it up with: 'I realised I love women too much to give all that up.' A few years later, Cruise popped up on screen in Risky Business, sliding around in his underwear, and his school friend was stunned to see him. 'Oh my God, that's Mapother!' one of them said in an interview with the New York Daily News. What shocked many of them even more than the acting was Cruise turning to Scientology. His old classmates just couldn't believe it, this wasn't the kid they prayed with every day.
Years later, just before Cruise's 50th birthday, around the time of his marriage to actor Katie Holmes, Father Ric found one of his old photos from the seminary days and sent it to him by post. It was Cruise at 14, smiling, holding a remote-controlled boat he'd built in school. Interestingly, the photo likely arrived right around the time Cruise was dealing with Holmes walking away with their daughter. Katie Holmes, who was also raised Catholic, reportedly left because she didn't want their daughter growing up in Scientology.