The Church of Scientology has long been a topic of conversation—and it has only become a more controversial subject in the past seven years. First, there was Katie Holmes’s dramatic departure from Scientology and her split from its most famous practitioner, Tom Cruise, in 2012. Then there was the reported disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige. (A lawyer for Shelly Miscavige said in 2018 that his client was “not missing” and was “appalled” by claims otherwise.) Then there was Leah Remini’s public campaign against the organization, which culminated in a book; a television series; and outspoken interviews. And there was also Lawrence Wright’s book-turned-documentary, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, which took a critical look at the organization and its controversial treatment of members.
Given this strife and scandal, one could forgive a famous member of Scientology for doing their best to avoid that loaded subject in a press interview. But considering the themes of Elisabeth Moss’s Emmy and Golden Globe-winning Hulu series, The Handmaid’s Tale, the prickly subject has proven unavoidable.
“There’s two things you’re never supposed to talk about at a dinner—politics or religion,” Moss conceded in a new interview with the Daily Beast, explaining her predicament. “And of course, I’m doing The Handmaid’s Tale, which is politics and religion, so it’s a strange situation where you’re going to be asked about these topics.”
So, how did the actress choose to explain her complicated views on religion? Very, very delicately.
“I choose to express myself in my work and my art,” Moss said carefully in the interview, setting a few boundaries for herself. “I don’t choose to express myself about it in interviews. . . . For me, it’s so hard to unpack in a sound bite or an interview, but I will say that the things that I truly believe in are the things that I’ve mentioned, and I think that they’re very important. I think people should be allowed to talk about what they want to talk about and believe what they want to believe, and you can’t take that away—and when you start to take that away, when you start to say, ‘you can’t think that,’ ‘you can’t believe that,’ ‘you can’t say that,’ then you get into trouble. Then you get into Gilead,” Moss said, referring to the fictional, authoritarian regime in The Handmaid’s Tale. “So whatever happens, I’m never going to take away your right to talk about something or believe something, and you can’t take away mine.”
The Daily Beast followed up by asking Moss to clarify her thoughts on sexuality—given Scientology’s reportedly critical stance on homosexuality. (The organization claimed last year that it has no official position on sexual orientation.)
“It’s a lot to get into and unpack that I can’t do [here],” she explained. “But that is not my bag. I am obviously a huge feminist and huge supporter of the L.G.B.T.Q. community and believe so strongly—I can’t even tell you—in people being able to do what they want to do, to love who they want to love, to be the person that they want to be—whoever that is. To me, it’s a huge reason why I love doing the show. That’s all I can say. I can’t speak to what other people believe, I can’t speak to what other people’s experiences have been. That’s where I stand and the only place I can speak from is my own.”
This is not the first time Moss has been asked about Scientology, and specifically how she reckons her beliefs with The Handmaid’s Tale. In 2017, Moss was asked by an Instagram user whether the Hulu series made her “think twice about Scientology” given “both Gilead and Scientology both believe that all outside sources (aka news) are wrong or evil.”
Moss responded, “That’s actually not true at all about Scientology.” She explained, “Religious freedom and tolerance and understanding the truth and equal rights for every race, religion and creed are extremely important to me. The most important things to me probably. And so Gilead and THT hit me on a very personal level. Thanks for the interesting question!”
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