When Tom Cruise tried to recruit ‘weak-minded' Seth Rogen into Scientology: ‘Thank God Judd Apatow was there or…'
Actor Seth Rogen is turning heads and taking names with his new series The Studio, where the narrative attempts to pull back the curtain on Hollywood and what all goes on behind the big screen. Like the nature of the show, Rogen has always been outspoken about his experiences as a part of the film industry and about his relationships with his co-stars, whether good or sour. Being the comedic genius he is, Rogen was once called by none other than Tom Cruise to help him make a comedy film. However, things quickly turned away from the main motive of the meeting and somehow transitioned into Cruise talking about religion and how the 'big pharma' companies were plotting against him.
Maybe Cruise had some Ethan Hunt flashbacks, a character who often finds himself being hunted, misunderstood or both. As according to Rogen, Cruise seemed all set to recruit him and actor Judd Apatow into the Scientology camp. 'I am a huge Tom Cruise fan, and I watch all his movies. We had a long meeting with him, and a couple of hours into it, the Scientology stuff comes up and how weird he has looked in the press lately. He tells us, 'If you just let me tell you what it was really about and give me 20 minutes, you would say no f***** way.' Rogen added that he and Apatow looked at each other confused and weren't really ready for converting to a new religion right then.
ALSO READ: Tom Cruise shrugs off father's day question after daughter Suri dropped his name following a decade of of estrangement
He said, 'Cruise started explaining to us how the pharmaceutical industry was trying to sabotage him and make him look bad in front of everyone. Cruise said, 'They're scrambling, and they're doing everything they can to discredit me so I won't hurt sales anymore'.' The 'making me look bad in the press' thing which Cruise is referring to is a collection of several instances where the actor condemned the use of antidepressants and, of course, his infamous lunge on Oprah Winfrey's sofa in 2006.
When Rogen asked him about the Oprah show, Cruise said that the media edited the video to make it look worse and then compared his situation to Louis Farrakhan. For context, Louis was the head of the Nation of Islam and had made several anti-Semitic comments, including comparing the Jews to cockroaches. Rogen admitted that 'of all the strange sentences I've heard in my life, Tom Cruise name-dropping Louis Farrakhan is top three.'
Rogen, who described himself as 'generally weak-willed, weak-minded person', said he was thankful the director was with him. He added: 'Thank god Judd was like, 'Eh, I think we're good. Let's just talk about movies and stuff.''
Cruise is one of Scientology's most famous followers and earlier described the religion as 'beautiful'. He was introduced to the organisation by his first wife Mimi Rogers in 1986 and has followed it since.
Along with The Studio, Rogen will also be appearing in the upcoming film Good Fortune, with Aziz Ansari and Keanu Reeves. The movie marks Aziz's directorial debut.
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