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Highlights

• Tom Cruise's ties to the Church of Scientology began after he married his first wife, Mimi Rogers.
• Mimi Rogers played a significant role in introducing Cruise to Scientology.
• Reports suggest that Scientology played a role in the dissolution of Cruise and Rogers' marriage.

With over half of the films in his repertoire grossing over $100 million at the box office, Tom Cruise's bona fides as a box office heavyweight are unquestionable. However, despite earning him tremendous acclaim, Cruise's life in the spotlight hasn't been completely void of controversy; the most contentious being his deep ties to the enigmatic and, some might say, bizarre world of Scientology.

But before he joined the church, Cruise was a devoted follower of Roman Catholicism, all of which changed almost as soon as he married his first wife, Bosch star Mimi Rogers. So, did Rogers introduce the Mission: Impossible star to the controversial religion?

Did Mimi Rogers Convince Tom Cruise To Join The Church Of Scientology?

Tom Cruise's ties to the Church of Scientology have been a topic of widespread controversy and fascination for so long, it’s perfectly understandable to assume he’s always been a card-carrying Scientologist.

But before he got so tangled up with the controversial religion, Cruise’s religion of choice was Roman Catholicism. Everything changed when the Top Gun star met and married his first wife, Mimi Rogers, who’d been raised by devout Scientologist Philip C. Spickler.

“My father is Jewish and my mother’s Episcopalian, and in the early ‘50s--before I was even born--my father became involved with Scientology,” she disclosed to the Los Angeles Times in a 1991 interview. “So, it’s not like I ever ‘converted’ to Scientology, rather, that philosophy was simply part of my upbringing.”

According to 'Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion,' a book written by journalist Janet Reitman, Rogers had risen to the rank of 'auditor' in the Church before she met Cruise and played a significant role in introducing the Mission: Impossible star to the religion.

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By the time their marriage unraveled in 1990, Cruise had become one of the Church's most outspoken advocates and was even crediting its practices with much of his success in Hollywood.

“[Scientology’s} helped tremendously. I would not have had the success that I've had without it,” he told The Guardian in 2004. “There are things that I can apply to my life that have helped me grow as an artist, in ways that I wanted to and in ways that were beyond my wildest dreams.”

Did The Church Of Scientology Play A Role In Mimi Rogers And Tom Cruise’s Split?

Just three years into their marriage, Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers decided to go their separate ways. Cruise would later open up about the circumstances of the divorce in an interview with Talk magazine.

“I was dissatisfied, wanting something more,” he said. “It was just two people who weren't meant to work and it wasn't what I wanted for my life. I think you just go on different paths. But it wasn't Mimi's fault … it's just the way it is."

However, speaking to Playboy in 1993, Rogers had a different view of why their marriage unraveled so quickly.

"Tom was seriously thinking of becoming a monk. At least for that period of time, it looked as though marriage wouldn't fit into his overall spiritual need. And he thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument,” she said, adding, “My instrument needed tuning."

The exact circumstances of the divorce became even more difficult to decipher when reports emerged that Cruise had become infatuated with his Days of Thunder co-star, Nicole Kidman, while still married to Rogers.

“Instant lust, that’s what I felt,” he told Vanity Fair of his first encounter with Kidman in 1995. “I thought she was amazingly sexy and stunning... I knew she was it for me. I absolutely knew—I just knew it. I thought, This is the person to be able to share all of who I am with, and her with me. There was a freshness to life, and a mutual soul I was looking for. I just knew I couldn’t live without her.”

According to 'A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology,' a memoir written by former Scientology executive Mike Rinder, Cruise's ties with Scientology came in handy when he allegedly started contemplating leaving Rogers for Kidman.

According to Rinder, Scientology head David Miscavige saw the situation as "an opportunity to demonstrate his ability to make Tom's wishes come true" and “assigned” his trusted lieutenant Greg Wilhere "to get Mimi to agree to a divorce so Tom could marry Nicole."

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What’s more, according to Andrew Morton's 'Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography,' a rift had developed between Scientology executives and Rogers' father, who had left the religion in the '80s, which further fueled the church's determination to fulfill Cruise's desires.

"The Scientology leadership felt such hostility toward Mimi's father that Mimi was stained by association, 'They no longer wanted her on the team,' says a former Scientologist who was involved in the charade. 'The impetus was to help Tom Cruise, and within twenty-four hours they had agreed to split up,'" the book reads.

Is Tom Cruise’s First Wife Mimi Rogers Still A Member Of Scientology?

While she's notoriously tight-lipped about her split from Scientology in interviews, Mimi Rogers doesn't seem to be an active member of the Church of Scientology.

The exact moment when the Bosch star broke ties with the church remains shrouded in mystery, but it's clear that her departure didn't occur in the immediate aftermath of her divorce from Tom Cruise.

Despite widespread reports that the church had played an integral role in her split from the Mission: Impossible star, Rogers continued to give the church glowing reviews long after their divorce had been finalized.

“I think it was an excellent system of belief to grow up with because Scientology offers an extremely pragmatic method for taking spiritual concerns and breaking them down into everyday applications,” she shared with the Los Angeles Times in 1991, more than a year after her split from Tom Cruise.

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“Scientology is controversial because it doesn’t deal with traditional concepts of God,” she added, “and people are always threatened by anything that veers away from the accepted norm. However, I’ve never been disenchanted with Scientology because the basic philosophical tenets I grew up with have proven to be sound.”

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