“IT’S GIVEN ME THAT HOPE”
Scientology has given me the ability to look at my life and know that I’m responsible for it and that I can change it. And it’s given me the tools to live my life to the fullest in every area—relationships, career, family. So it’s given me that hope that nothing has to stay the same.
“SCIENTOLOGY HAS MADE ME HAPPIER”
Well, Scientology has, well, made me happier; I should also say that because that’s—that’s not something to be taken lightly. But also it gives you the tools to make things better in your life. It gives you the tools to do that. And in the book, The Fundamentals of Thought, you will get those tools today, to change it right now.
“I WOULDN’T BE SUCCESSFUL…”
I wouldn’t be successful if it wasn’t for Scientology. There’s a lot of things that I attribute to Scientology, just the basic morals that I was raised with. I was raised with Scientology morals of do unto others as you would have done to you, don’t do drugs, things like that. So, so many—I can’t tell you in a, in a small, in this tiny time that we have in an interview, what Scientology has done for me.
“SCIENTOLOGY GIVES YOU THE ANSWERS”
Scientology gives you the answers that you’re looking for—who are you, where are you going, can you be happy, why are you crazy about this thing, what do you—why am I stopping myself. Scientology gives you the answers to those things. And I don’t know any other thing on this planet that actually gives you the real answers to those questions and a solution to handle it.
“I WOULD NOT BE THE PERSON I AM”
I just know I would not be the person I am today if it—I would be worse! I mean some people who know me, you know, go, “Oh, you know, you’re horrible.” But I would be even more horrible if it wasn’t for Scientology, it’s like I would have been a monster.
“YOU LEARN TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY”
Well, I didn’t really have any involvement [with the community] prior to getting involved with Scientology in any way. It was just kind of like, “me, me, me!” you know? It’s like, “I’m screwed up, I need help, and screw everybody else!” And since I’ve been involved in Scientology, you know, you learn to take responsibility for yourself, and not only yourself but others.
“I LOVE BEING INVOLVED WITH IT”
It’s a beautiful thing. It’s nice to know when you do something and you go, “I’m actually helping,” you know, I’m helping them help. I’m helping the Church help so many other things. And that’s such a—I love it, I love being involved with it, because then I, you know, I feel like I’m a good person.
“IT MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME”
It means everything to me. Without [Church of Scientology] Celebrity Centre I would really be lost. I mean, I would be like… because I—it’s like my safe place. It’s the place, it’s the only place that I know that really safeguards its artists. So I mean, to know that you have a place to go that you know you are totally and completely safe and on the right track, it’s like I can’t—you can’t even, you cannot buy that. No.
“WITHOUT IT I’D BE IN THE DUMPS”
Well, I’m an artist, so like I said, without it [the Church] I’d be, you know, in the dumps and I would probably be an animal. I would be a horrible, horrible person. But it—as an artist, again, to know that there’s a place that you could be totally safe and know that if there’s anything going on in your life, anything that you just feel like there’s nobody that could help you, you know that you can come to this one place and everything would be better…
“MY MOTHER BECAME MY FRIEND”
Also I saw a big change in my mother, my family, the way we started to communicate, which is not something that really we did much in my house. There was a lot of yelling. It was a lot of door slamming. But my mother did change and she became my friend. She became somebody that I went to when I had problems, which is what a family is. So I felt very protected there and I attribute that to her doing Scientology, yeah.
“I’VE BECOME MUCH STRONGER AS AN ARTIST”
I’ve become much stronger as an artist because of Scientology. There’s so many dimensions—I don’t want to be geeky about it, but the bottom line is, you find out who you really are. You find out the things you’re, you’re feeling are valid. You find—I have find, have found ways to get along better in life because, you know, I’m a fighter, I’m a fighter. And so this has really helped me.
“SCIENTOLOGY IS POSITIVE”
Well, I think as an artist you get a lot of crap on a daily basis. You need something—it’s either going to be drugs or something positive. And Scientology is positive. So I think that’s why people are drawn to it. That’s the bottom line, okay.
“I COULD ACTUALLY BE IN CONTROL”
What Scientology has helped me with is confidence. I’ve had somewhere to go to tell someone my fears and I wasn't crazy—and you know, that I could actually do something about those fears, that I could actually be in control of my own feelings, that I could actually be in control of my own career.
“I WAS ABLE TO HAVE SUCCESS”
I mean, for me it was like, I saw people who were kind of immoral being successful. And I didn’t understand that. And you have to go into agreement with a certain type of attitude that you can’t really be you. And that’s just not true. I mean, with Scientology I was able to have success in this business without compromising my own integrity. And that’s what Scientology helped affirm for me.
“AN OUTLET WHERE YOU CAN BE YOU”
I think Scientology is popular in the entertainment community because, you know, we’re out there. As an artist you put yourself out there, whatever you’re trying to communicate, and you’re open to an attack in some way. Either it’s, “You’re prettier in real life,” or “You’re ugly in real life.” People just feel it’s okay to attack you in some way because you’re on the big screen or you’re in their living rooms every day, you know.
“ACTORS NEED TOOLS OF LIFE”
The technology of Scientology is very useful to people who are just starting to make it in the business, in that actors need tools, and it’s not just tools of acting, it’s tools of life. When you walk into an audition, they want to know that they’re talking to somebody. And I know from personal experience I was very uncomfortable in a room full of executives just staring at me. And I wouldn’t do the best job that I felt I could do at that time…
“I CAN LOOK AT MYSELF IN THE MIRROR”
Well Scientology has helped me avoid these pitfalls in Hollywood in that, I’ve always felt that I was different, and that I didn’t want to follow the crowd of people—like the bad people—but I also wanted to be a cool person. So I was kind of struggling with the two personalities. But being a Scientologist, you’re getting in touch with the person that you really are, and we really are good people. We really do want to be good for ourselves and others.
“OVERCOMING THE UPS AND DOWNS IN LIFE”
Now, I just want to say to you guys, I don’t know if you know this, but I’ve been a Scientologist most of my life. Now is this a seminar about Scientology? Absolutely not. But I feel it would be wrong of me and it would be a disservice to you, to not tell you that Scientology has greatly helped me with my career. Greatly.
“MY MOTHER GOT INTO SCIENTOLOGY…”
My mother was a typical Bensonhurst [Brooklyn neighborhood] mother—yelling, carrying on, you know, just says “no” for no reason, you know—that kind of mother. You get punished, you know, and that kind of thing. But my mother got into Scientology, and then out of nowhere my mother was communicating. She was talking to us, which was a very odd thing.
“IT’S CRAZY GOOD”
Man, I was on course—right ma, am I lying? I went on course whenever I could. I mean people were like, “Leah?” “Yeah, that’s me, man.” I was on—it was like I changed overnight, right? I was on course—crazy, like on weekends. I would never, never, never—are you crazy—weekends! You’re out of your mind bro! Never, never! But I changed from that person.
“I AM TELLING YOU THIS FROM MY HEART”
You’re not going to have a fair shot if you surround yourself with people who are holding you down. You are not going to make it in this career if you are doing stuff that is not right, that’s immoral, that’s not ethical. You are not going to get away with it. And you are not going to be happy. You know what I mean?
“I’M NOT A DEPRESSED PERSON”
I have included myself in this category of, you know, this makes me legit, you know—if I have a house that looks like this and a car that looks like that or boobs that look like this, then I’m legit. Then I’m really in this business and I’m really someone to be reckoned with. And you know, I’ve gone down that path—I don’t really have the boobs but I have the other things—and it’s an empty happiness and I see it time and time again.
“IT WARMS MY HEART”
Because I’m a Scientologist, I know what we do for the community. But when we have political leaders coming and mayors of other cities coming and people in law enforcement coming and praising what we do and how we’re helping the community, it just—it warms my heart to hear these stories and I hope other people share in that. I wish this would air everywhere, you know? I wish it would air on network television as a one-hour.
“ON THE TIP OF EVERYBODY’S TONGUES”
I think in this day and age Scientology is on the tip of everybody’s tongues—for whatever reason, it doesn’t matter. But at the end of the day, with anybody with any real brains or real balls, they come up to me and say, “I actually want to know what it is.” Regardless if they have thoughts about it or they’ve talked bad about it or continued a rumor that they knew nothing about. At the end of the day, they really want to know what it is.
“I CAN SEE THOSE CHANGES”
I wouldn’t be involved with something that I didn’t trust fully with my life, you know. And all I can tell you is that it’s helped me. You know, I can’t say that it’s helped such-and-such that you talked to, you know what I mean? It’s like, it’s helped me. I can see those changes, they’re very tangible. It’s not something I’m just believing in. They’re very tangible things that you can see in your life, you know.
“WE ALL KNOW THAT IT WORKS”
Our critics are just that—critics. And I just don’t meet those people on a daily basis and nor would I want to. I don’t want to sit and argue, “Does Scientology work?” It works because I know it works. And 10 million Scientologists across the planet would disagree [with critics]. It’s not like something I’m just saying to you. I mean we all, we all know that it works.
“THIS HAS HELPED MY LIFE”
I think I’m, I’m semi-bright, you know? And this has helped my life. This has helped my friends. This has helped people that I don’t even know.
“I’M BECOMING A BETTER PERSON”
What I give a shit about—excuse my language—crap about, is that, that I’m becoming a better person. That I’m a better mother for my daughter. That my family is safe, my family is not—I’m not getting divorced. I’ve been married for 12 years. I’ve been together with my, my husband for 12 years and, you know, excuse me. And my mom is a happy, wonderful human being and my sisters are great, I have great friends.
“WHY AM I A SCIENTOLOGIST?”
Why am I a Scientologist? Well, Scientology has offered me the ability to be a happy person. I’m sure you’ve come across a lot of Hollywood types of people, and I have through the years. And I’m not saying this for everybody, but there seems to be a lot of ups and downs in this business and people don’t really have the tools to maintain a happy, healthy life. And Scientology has given me those tools to try to be a good person, the best I can…
“IT’S ABOUT REACHING OUT TO PEOPLE”
You’re expected to be all that you can be. It’s not easy to be a Scientologist because the ethic level of this group is very, very high. We care a lot about people. And you are expected to be the best person that you can be. You can’t fall down on being a victim, you can’t fall down on your childhood, you can’t fall down on, you know, “I just want to be a selfish ass and just do what I want to do.” Scientology is about being responsible…
“HOW DO YOU FIND OUT?”
I think that people who are interested in Scientology, they come in, they see for themselves. They don’t listen to me, they don’t listen to you, they don’t listen to any celebrity, they don’t listen to—if they’re truly smart people they’re going to go and find out for themselves. They’re not going to watch a slanted story on anything, they’re going to go and find out for themselves.
“HE’S GIVEN ME A GIFT”
He’s [L. Ron Hubbard’s] given me, yeah, he’s given me a gift. He’s given Man a gift. You could actually walk into a Church and change your life that day. Where you were miserable, you don’t have to be miserable. Where you wanted a divorce, you don’t have to get a divorce. Where you thought you were crap, you don’t have to think that about yourself.
“THE MIRACLES THAT OCCUR…”
The Basics [L. Ron Hubbard’s basic books and lectures] also reminded me of how powerful our technology is. And I think we take that for granted sometimes, of the miracles that occur on the Purif [Purification Rundown]. Could you imagine Inglewood public getting a Purif? I mean don’t take for granted what it means to see again, to remember your past, to feel something.
“I AM IN AWE”
The more I study the LRH [L. Ron Hubbard], the more I take people in session and audit them, the more I am in awe of LRH’s humanity, his affinity and his love for people—it’s everything, it’s everything that he’s done.
“WE’RE SO LUCKY”
We’re so lucky to have the privilege of introducing Scientology. We literally have the ability to open the door to spiritual freedom for these people. And that’s why I consider a position on staff here at [Church of Scientology] Inglewood to be an honor. You’re working for LRH [L. Ron Hubbard] and you’re helping to bring this change to these people’s lives.