ALISON BOSHOFF: Has Tom Cruise cooled off on Scientology? Sources say the Mission: Impossible star hasn’t visited the religion’s UK headquarters for three years, despite being based in Britain for most of that time
Tom Cruise is Scientology’s most famous member, but could he lose his fervor?
The actor was close friends with frontman David Miscavige, who witnessed his wedding to Katie Holmes in 2006, but sources say he didn’t fly his helicopter to Scientology’s UK headquarters in East Grinstead for about three years.
Meanwhile Cruise, 61, has been based primarily in the UK, directing Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, and has taken the helicopter around the country, including Birmingham and the Cotswolds.
But not in East Grinstead – although Scientology has a branch in central London, which the actor could attend. Spokespersons for Cruise and the church did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Scientology’s UK headquarters is Saint Hill Manor in West Sussex, which was purchased by the religion’s founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1959 and was his family home before being turned into a church.
Tom Cruise arrives by helicopter to the premiere of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ held at the USS Midway on May 4, 2022 in San Diego, California
Pictured are the buildings of the Atmosphere Church of Scientology in Los Angeles, California, United States, in October 2020
According to the Scientology website, it “provides advanced religious services to Scientologists worldwide.”
Previously, Cruise used to travel to West Sussex in his AS350 helicopter to visit the church.
He has a base in Knightsbridge in London and is said to fly from nearby Battersea Heliport (where he was sometimes filmed by fans).
Cruise’s daughter Bella (from his marriage to second wife Nicole Kidman) lives in Croydon and is believed to work in Saint Hill, where there are around 400 staff. (Cruise and Kidman’s son, Connor, is a big game fisherman and cook who lives in Clearwater, Fla., where the religion has its world headquarters.)
Cruise’s third wife, Katie Holmes, lives in New York with her 17-year-old daughter Suri. Neither she nor Kidman are Scientologists, but Cruise’s first wife, Mimi Rogers, was — and she introduced him to the religion, which he joined in 1986.
Tom Cruise is pictured leaving the Mark Hotel on July 10, 2023 in New York
It was reported in July 2021 that Cruise was ‘stepping away’ from religion, as he had not been seen around Saint Hill Manor despite being in the country for filming.
Sources said he had previously stayed at the mansion on such occasions, although the change was attributed to concerns over gatherings during Covid.
The Church of Scientology in the UK is small: the 2021 census showed that fewer than 2,000 people in England and Wales described themselves as Scientologists. In contrast, more than 8,000 said they believed in shamanism.
