The Handmaid's Tale lead actress and executive producer Elisabeth Moss has spoken out about her involvement in the Church of Scientology in a new interview with The New Yorker, defending the controversial religion as "misunderstood" and imploring those who criticize the Church for its reported abuses "to find out for themselves."
Speaking with contributor Michael Schulman in a profile titled "How Elisabeth Moss Became the Dark Lady of the Small Screen," the actress spoke at length about her faith, maintaining that "it's not really a closed-off religion."
Moss elaborated: "It's a place that is very open to, like, welcoming in somebody who wants to learn more about it. I think that's the thing that is probably the most misunderstood."
The actress went on to explain that she typically keeps her connection to the Church private as she doesn't want her personal life to be a distraction for her viewers. "I want them to be seeing the character," she explained. "I feel like, when actors reveal too much of their lives, I'm sometimes watching something and I'm going, Oh, I know that she just broke up with that person, or, I know that she loves to do hot yoga, or whatever it is."
As for the fans that can't reconcile allegations against the Church with her role in Handmaid's: "People can obviously hold in their mind whatever they want to, and I can't control that. If it's not that, it's going to be something else," she said.
"I would just encourage people to find out for themselves. I've certainly been guilty of reading an article or watching something and taking that as gospel," added Moss. "And obviously something like religious freedom and resistance against a theocracy is very important to me."
The profile goes on to state a few interesting milestones in Moss's trajectory with the Church. Firstly, Schulman cites a website that tracks "service completions" listed in Scientology magazines, which documents Moss's 2017 Purification Rundown — a "detox treatment that involves prolonged heat exposure and ingesting large quantities of niacin."
Secondly, Schulman cites public Scientology records that show Moss took the Hubbard Key to Life Course when she was eight years old and "achieved the state of Clear" at age 11. (Moss's parents are also Scientologists.)
Further, Moss's manager, Gay Ribisi, is the mother of actors Giovanni and Marissa Ribisi, the latter of whom was married to kinda-no-longer practising Scientologist, Beck. Moss would go on to consult the musician about punk music ahead of her role in Her Smell.
Read the full profile here.
Speaking with contributor Michael Schulman in a profile titled "How Elisabeth Moss Became the Dark Lady of the Small Screen," the actress spoke at length about her faith, maintaining that "it's not really a closed-off religion."
Moss elaborated: "It's a place that is very open to, like, welcoming in somebody who wants to learn more about it. I think that's the thing that is probably the most misunderstood."
The actress went on to explain that she typically keeps her connection to the Church private as she doesn't want her personal life to be a distraction for her viewers. "I want them to be seeing the character," she explained. "I feel like, when actors reveal too much of their lives, I'm sometimes watching something and I'm going, Oh, I know that she just broke up with that person, or, I know that she loves to do hot yoga, or whatever it is."
As for the fans that can't reconcile allegations against the Church with her role in Handmaid's: "People can obviously hold in their mind whatever they want to, and I can't control that. If it's not that, it's going to be something else," she said.
"I would just encourage people to find out for themselves. I've certainly been guilty of reading an article or watching something and taking that as gospel," added Moss. "And obviously something like religious freedom and resistance against a theocracy is very important to me."
The profile goes on to state a few interesting milestones in Moss's trajectory with the Church. Firstly, Schulman cites a website that tracks "service completions" listed in Scientology magazines, which documents Moss's 2017 Purification Rundown — a "detox treatment that involves prolonged heat exposure and ingesting large quantities of niacin."
Secondly, Schulman cites public Scientology records that show Moss took the Hubbard Key to Life Course when she was eight years old and "achieved the state of Clear" at age 11. (Moss's parents are also Scientologists.)
Further, Moss's manager, Gay Ribisi, is the mother of actors Giovanni and Marissa Ribisi, the latter of whom was married to kinda-no-longer practising Scientologist, Beck. Moss would go on to consult the musician about punk music ahead of her role in Her Smell.
Read the full profile here.
