Seth Rogen on the Time That Tom Cruise Pitched Him Scientology

"I was genuinely worried that I was not strong enough to... say no to him"

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished May 25, 2021

Seth Rogen has shared how a meeting with Tom Cruise about comedy nearly led him to go clear, recalling the time the famed actor pitched the Canadian comedian on the Church of Scientology.

Speaking with Good Morning Britain [via NME], Rogen reflected on visiting Cruise over a decade ago for industry advice, with their discussion eventually turning into a Scientology sales pitch.

"It was a slow sell," Rogen said. "At first I was a little insulted when he didn't bring it up because I was like: 'Am I not good enough for him? Does he actually want to talk about comedy? Am I not good enough to be indoctrinated by this man?'

"But eventually — it was around when he had just been jumping on Oprah's couch and kind of just acting generally strange in the media — he started to say that he felt the media was manipulating how he was coming across."

Rogen added: "Then he brought up his friend Louis Farrakhan, which was a shocking revelation as well, he said they've also made him look bad in the media. He said 'it's all because of Scientology, and if you give me an hour to just explain to you what Scientology is, it'll blow your mind. You'll say no way.'"

Rogen went on to say that he then worried about turning Cruise down.

"Honestly, I did not have the strength to say 'tell me about it' because I was genuinely worried that I was not strong enough to have Tom Cruise pitch me on Scientology and say no to him because I'm a huge fan of him, honestly."

Lately, Rogen has gone green with the American launch of Houseplant, his cannabis brand. This year has also seen him publish a Yearbook about his life.

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