Waging a war against a powerful organization, questioning her faith at a wedding, and teaming back up with an old friend. Leah Remini has carved out a successful career in Hollywood, all while the shadow of Scientology has loomed large in her life.
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00:00Waging a war against a powerful organization, questioning her faith at a wedding,
00:04and teaming back up with an old friend, Leah Remini has carved out a successful
00:08career in Hollywood — all while the shadow of Scientology has loomed large in her life.
00:13Leah Remini was born on June 15, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York, to Vicki Marshall and
00:18George Remini. Remini was baptized Catholic, but did not attend church regularly. Her parents split
00:23when Remini was young, and her mother soon began dating someone new. Remini stayed in Brooklyn for
00:27about the first decade of her life, growing up in what she described as a middle-class home
00:31alongside multiple siblings, including a sister named Nicole. Even as a child,
00:35Remini was intrigued by acting, saying in an interview with CBS Mornings,
00:39"'I grew up on television watching I Love Lucy. I remember hearing the
00:43laughs from the audience and I was like, wow, to be able to do that.'"
00:47After her parents separated, Remini's mother started dating the man who would eventually
00:50become Remini's stepfather. He was a practicing Scientologist and introduced the religion to
00:55Remini's mother, who joined the church with her children. As Remini shared in an interview with
00:59People, Scientology was positive in her life when she first joined.
01:03"'Almost immediately, my mother became a little more open and less the mother who
01:06was always yelling at you. She told my sister and me that we were spiritual beings,
01:10and we were going to start learning to communicate and not attack each other.
01:13As a kid, it's very empowering."
01:15Remini immersed herself in the world of Scientology,
01:18learning its teachings and the church's ultimate goals. Her mother then enrolled
01:21Remini and her sister at Sea Organization, a community of the church's most devout members.
01:26To be a part of Sea Organization, Remini's family had to move to Clearwater, Florida,
01:30and it was there that Remini worked and signed a billion-year contract
01:33committing herself to the Church of Scientology. Remini complained about the living and working
01:37conditions in Florida, and eventually, according to her family, they exited Sea Organization.
01:42The Church of Scientology, however, claims Remini was removed from Sea Organization
01:46due to behavior of which the church did not approve.
01:49When Remini was 13, her mother moved the family to Los Angeles, California,
01:53where her family continued practicing Scientology despite having left Sea Organization.
01:57Remini was not, however, in school. She explained on The Joe Rogan Experience,
02:01"[Scientology does not value a traditional education. They value your education of Scientology."
02:07Remini dropped out of school in the eighth grade and took Scientology courses. When questioned
02:11about her education, Remini said that she and her mother lied that Remini was receiving a
02:15private education. She later went on to earn her GED. But being in Los Angeles positioned Remini
02:20to eventually realize her dream of breaking into the entertainment industry, and the teachings
02:24of Scientology helped her in that pursuit.
02:26As an actor, I walked into a room where some people might feel,
02:31you know, cower in front of a casting director. I wasn't."
02:34While still a teenager, Remini set out to find an agent and start auditioning.
02:38She met with John Levy, a casting agent who would later be responsible for the start of her career.
02:42Of their initial meeting, Remini told BuzzFeed,
02:45"...I was being a total smartass, and John's laughing, so I'm thinking,
02:48this guy loves me, and I'd be showing up on a set the next day."
02:51Levy later told Remini that he was anything but impressed with her audition,
02:54but he thought she had a special quality, so he continued to have her return for auditions.
02:58Remini's acting career began in earnest when she was on the brink of adulthood,
03:02and her first credited role was in the show Head of the Class, which was cast by Levy.
03:06Remini found a home in sitcoms. After Head of the Class, she was cast in Who's the Boss,
03:10and then she got a starring role on the sitcom Living Dolls, which was canceled after 12 episodes.
03:15Speaking about that show, Remini told BuzzFeed,
03:17"...I really thought that was it. I thought I was done. I thought I'd made it. You don't
03:21realize there's going to be trials and tribulations in the ebb and flow of this business."
03:25The actor would go on to find guest appearances and recurring roles in shows like Cheers,
03:29Friends, and Fired Up before hitting it big.
03:32In the late 90s, Remini was cast in the show that made her famous, The King of Queens. As
03:36she shared in an interview with Today, some initial good-natured ribbing from
03:40her eventual co-star Kevin James is what made her want to be a part of the show.
03:44"...Immediately, I was like, I don't even care what the script is,
03:46I just love this guy so much. I was like, yes."
03:50The King of Queens ran for nine seasons, earned one Primetime Emmy nomination,
03:54and started longstanding careers for Remini, James, and Patton Oswalt.
03:58Amid Remini's success in The King of Queens, the comedic actor found herself in some of the
04:02most elite circles in Scientology, and she was introduced to Tom Cruise,
04:05a notable member of the church. As she spent more time with Cruise,
04:08Remini began questioning some of the church's policies and teachings.
04:12She claimed that her questioning, particularly about Cruise,
04:14was met with resistance from church officials, which led her to question more.
04:18As she said in an interview with ABC News,
04:20"...Being critical of Tom Cruise is being critical of Scientology itself.
04:23You are a person who is anti the aims and goals of Scientology. You are evil."
04:28Before being cast in The King of Queens, Leah Remini met Angela Pagan,
04:32an actor and musician at a nightclub. Remini said it was love at first sight,
04:35and the two began dating. In July 2003, Remini and Pagan got married in Las Vegas,
04:40and just a year later, they welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Sophia.
04:44Pagan and Remini both practiced Scientology at the beginning of their marriage, and for Remini,
04:48the year she got married was also a year of great flourishing within Scientology.
04:52She achieved Operating Thetan-3, a high level in Scientology that shares esoteric
04:57knowledge about the church with appropriate members. Just a few years later, Remini
05:00attended Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' wedding in Italy. The festivities were eye-opening to Remini,
05:05and when she returned to the United States, she filed formal reports to the church claiming
05:09Cruise and Scientology leader David Miscavige, quote, "...were bringing Scientology down."
05:14I now see where the cracks are in our church, and it's David Miscavige, it's Tom Cruise."
05:21Tom Cruise's 2006 wedding set in motion Remini's decision to leave the Church of Scientology.
05:26While Remini filed reports against Cruise and Miscavige, many other Scientology members
05:30who were at Cruise's wedding, including Katie Holmes, filed complaints about Remini.
05:34Following the reports, Remini claims she was sent to Clearwater, Florida,
05:37the spiritual headquarters of the Church of Scientology, and spent three months
05:41with church officials who were aiming to get her to say she made up her reports.
05:44But Remini still wasn't ready to leave after that, and she spent several more years as a
05:48member of the church. In 2012, however, after years of questioning her church's practices
05:53and beliefs, Remini was inspired by Holmes' decision to divorce Cruise and took steps
05:57toward leaving Scientology. She began researching outsiders' opinions of the church, and she
06:01discovered that other former members shared many of her misgivings about Scientology's practices
06:05and procedures. Finally, in 2013, Remini and her family left the church. She said in a statement,
06:11"...I wish to share my sincere and heartfelt appreciation for the overwhelming positive
06:15response I have received from the media, my colleagues, and from fans around the world.
06:19I am truly grateful and thankful for all your support."
06:22After leaving the Church of Scientology, Remini continued with her career,
06:26and she took her work even more seriously than before. She was a contestant on the 17th season
06:30of Dancing with the Stars, during which she shared with her partner some of the struggles
06:34that came with leaving the church.
06:35"...Church is looking for me to fail, so they can say to their parishioners,
06:40you see, what happens when you leave the church, like they're waiting for me to fail."
06:43Remini was eliminated just before the four finalists, but the former Scientologist found
06:48more work co-hosting and guest-hosting TV shows. She and her family also starred in their own
06:52reality show for two years, Leah Remini. It's all relative. On the show, Remini opened up further
06:57about her decision to leave Scientology, specifically for the sake of her daughter.
07:01"...I just didn't want her to be raised that way, because let's say in 10 years,
07:04if I don't want to be connected to the church anymore,
07:06my own daughter would be taught to disconnect from me."
07:09While Remini kept herself busy hosting shows and competing on reality TV,
07:13she continued her true passion — acting. Remini was cast in single-episode appearances
07:17and multiple-episode arcs on various TV shows throughout the 2010s,
07:21like Phineas & Ferb, The Exes, and The Clapper. Fans of Remini and The King of Queens were
07:25especially excited in 2017 when Remini reunited with Kevin James on his new show, Kevin Can Wait.
07:31Remini started by appearing in the Season 1 finale of the show, and she joined the cast
07:35full-time for Season 2. Some fans of the show were disappointed in the casting change, however,
07:39as the addition of Remini meant the end of Aaron Hayes' run on the show. But James was very happy
07:44to act again with his former co-star, telling CBS News,
07:47To have Leah Remini back on is fantastic. It's amazing, because we worked together for nine
07:51years, and then were offered 10. And to be able to have that opportunity to work together again
07:55is a blessing."
07:57After her public departure from Scientology, Remini wanted to expose the organization and
08:01its officials for what she saw as misbehavior and abuse. To do so, she spoke about her experience
08:06on her reality show, Leah Remini, It's All Relative, completed interviews about her time
08:10as a Scientologist, and created the documentary series, Leah Remini, Scientology and the Aftermath.
08:15I'm gonna tell these stories in hopes that people wake up and go,
08:20okay, somebody needs to do something about this."
08:22Scientology and the Aftermath was a huge hit. The show ran for three seasons,
08:26and it won Remini two Primetime Emmy Awards — one for Outstanding Informational Series
08:30or Special, and one for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.
08:34After the docuseries ended, Remini continued her quest by hosting a podcast called
08:38Scientology Fair Game, which ran from 2020 to 2022.
08:42Leah Remini has always maintained a strong work ethic, finding a way to make time for
08:46multiple projects. While hosting her podcast, Scientology Fair Game, she returned to hosting
08:51television. In 2021, the actor was hired to host a new game show, People Puzzler,
08:55in which contestants solve a variety of pop culture-themed crossword puzzles.
08:59Speaking to People magazine about her decision to host the game show network series, Remini said,
09:03"'I was dealing with the aftermath of producing and hosting my A&E documentary series on
09:07Scientology, on top of it being a very dark time in our country. So when something like
09:11this comes along, I feel like it's a blessing. I just love connecting with people."
09:15Amid her continued success, Remini has not stopped her mission to take down
09:19the Church of Scientology. In 2023, she took legal action against the Church.
09:23The former Scientologist filed a lawsuit claiming harassment, intimidation,
09:27and more by the Church, seeking damages for what she says she has suffered.
09:30The Church denied any wrongdoing and suggested Remini move to Russia,
09:33claiming she doesn't like free speech. In a press release, Remini stated,
09:37With this lawsuit, I hope to protect the rights afforded to them and me by the
09:41Constitution of the United States to speak the truth and report the facts about Scientology
09:45without fear of vicious and vindictive retribution, of which most have no way to fight back.