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After nine years on the successful series THE King of queens , co-stars Leah remini And Kevin James had gone through a lot together, but to join the same religion was not part of it. Remini was scientologist For the entire success of the series, and she said that the management of the controversial church was delighted with the celebrity that the show had brought to her. According to her, they thought that this would give them access to potential more publicized members, including James. But although Remini says that she was in a hurry to present Scientology to her husband on the screen, she refused to try to convert him. Continue reading to learn more.

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As she wrote in her book, Tipard: survive Hollywood and Scientology , Remini was baptized Catholic and became a "second generation practitioner" of Scientology when his mother joined the organization after starting to go out with a member. From the age of eight, Remini and her sister started taking lessons in the organization of New York. At 13, she and her sister were recruited in the Sea Org, leaving behind traditional education, leaving their family home and signed service commitments of a billion years to Scientology. The teenager was put to work at the head of a cleaning team for the Sandcastle hotel managed by Scientology, but was sent from Sea Org for having contacted a member of the opposite sex. However, she and her family stayed with Scientology as civilians, and Remini would continue to be part of the organization during her ascent to glory.

Before Scientology, Remini was a young girl in Brooklyn with a penchant for performance, inspired to audition the main role in a production of Broadway of Annie . But when she went on stage, she "became blind with panic," she wrote in her memoirs. Becoming a scientologist helped put an end to this, she said.

"There are tools that are very, very useful in your life, for you as an actor," She said to ABC News in 2015 , before leaving religion. "I entered a room ... While some people could enter a room and curl up in front of a director, I was not [curious]."

This confidence served him well. After having moved to Los Angeles, she spent the end of the 80s and the early 90s in a high series of roles on successes, especially Saved by the gong ,, Acclamations , And Friends . She also played in a season Who is the boss? spin-off called Living dolls next to Halle Berry .

Remini said his reader was rooted for a higher purpose. "I saw a successful career of actor in salvation", " She tweeted in 2022 . "It would help me get my family out of poverty and give myself a higher position in Scientology which, I really thought, helped save humanity." In 1998, at least part of this dream would come true when creating the role of Carrie Heffernan, a legal secretary married to a delivery man played by the actor James in the sitcom The king of the queens . The popular series would take place for nine years, winning over $ 400,000 per episode by 2005, according Variety .

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Remini said in interviews that, as the popularity of the series grew, the church management had tried to force him to recruit his Costar. "They have always tried to do me, [asking]" Why isn't it there? Why didn't you promote him? "" " she said People in 2017 . She refused, knowing that James was already devoted to another faith. "I said to myself" because he is Catholic. He doesn't want to have anything to do with that "" she said. "They let him go after a while, but generally you should recruit, especially with someone with whom you work for nine years." (According to the article, the representatives of Scientology denied its assertions.)

In an interview The Hollywood Reporter In 2016, Remini said that she "Never" tried to sell James On her religion, even if she said he had never judged it either. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

"Kevin has always been very respectful of my beliefs, and he just said the opposite," she said at the exit. "People asked her:" Oh my God, is she trying to get you into this crazy cult? "And he said," No. She's not like the others. " »»

After more than 30 years as a member and around $ 5 million in donations In church, Remini left Scientology in 2013, proclaiming: "No one will tell me how I should think, nobody is going to tell me who I can and cannot speak" An interview with People .

During this difficult period of his life, James remained by his side. "He contacted me and said to me:" I am so proud of you; If you need something, I'm here "," she told the magazine in 2017.

The actor has since become one of the most vocal criticisms in Scientology, speaking of his negative experiences in interviews, testimonies, his memoirs and a series of the Emmy Emmy, Leah remini: Scientology and the consequences . She said that the organization was abusive and predatory and highlights other former members with similar claims in her program.

In 2015, Reminini partially blamed his departure on the group most famous member, Tom Cruise , narrative 20/20 That his importance for the Church was such that anyone who spoke against the actor became an enemy of Scientology. After the record success of Top Gun: Maverick In 2022, Remini reiterated his claims , Tweet "Tom Cruise knows exactly what is going on in Scientology. Do not let the charm of the cinema go wrong."

Remini and James continued to be close, with Remini writing in his memories that the joy of working with his co-star of the sitcom "ruined [she] for life" for other leading men. The two gathered from the second season of the later series of James Kevin can wait In 2017, and she called it "one of my favorite people on this earth" An Instagram post in April .

The old co-stars now share another connection also. Like James, Remini identifies again as Catholic and baptized his daughter in faith, narrative People in 2015 , "For me, that's what religion is supposed to be: a beautiful thing."