entertainment
Personal Experiences
Personal Development
religious studies
Childhood education
Work Life Balance
1. This photo was taken when I was 16.
I was so proud of this headshot. I thought my side pony made me look versatile and like a consummate actress.
I was ready to take on the world.
But by this point, I had been living the life of an adult for years even though I was a kid.
I was so proud of this headshot. I thought my side pony made me look versatile and like a consummate actress.
I was ready to take on the world.
But by this point, I had been living the life of an adult for years even though I was a kid.
2. Scientologists are taught that kids are no different from adults. So from a very young age I was held accountable like an adult and regularly told that anything bad that happened in my life, even things that I wasn’t responsible for, was my fault.
3. Even though I was just 16 at the time, I hadn’t received any sort of formal education for years.
Instead, I had been working for years so that I could support myself and my family.
For the last 38 years of my life, I have been living and working with an 8th grade education.
Instead, I had been working for years so that I could support myself and my family.
For the last 38 years of my life, I have been living and working with an 8th grade education.
4. L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, had a deep disdain for conventional education and since everything in Scientology is guided directly by his policies, with no room for interpretation, my education was interrupted.
5. Scientology was my life. Our friends were mostly Scientologists, I met my agent through Scientologists, and I worked for an insurance company owned by Scientologists.
6. I saw a successful acting career as a salvation. It would help me get my family out of poverty and give me a higher standing in Scientology which I truly believed was helping to save mankind.
7. At the time, we were living in squalor with no furniture. Every spare cent we had went to Scientology for mandatory courses, sessions, and treatments.
I was determined to get my family into better circumstances.
I was determined to get my family into better circumstances.
8. I auditioned for roles but was repeatedly told that my brash approach and thick Brooklyn accent were taking me nowhere fast.
It wasn’t until a voice teacher and casting director both discouraged me from losing my brashness and accent that I started booking acting gigs.
It wasn’t until a voice teacher and casting director both discouraged me from losing my brashness and accent that I started booking acting gigs.
9. Had you told me then that I would be a student at NYU at age 51, I wouldn’t have believed it.
I had big dreams back then but when I look back they were rooted in my desire to survive...I couldn't have imagined a world in which I would be a university student at my age.
I had big dreams back then but when I look back they were rooted in my desire to survive...I couldn't have imagined a world in which I would be a university student at my age.
10. And the idea that I would leave Scientology and work to expose the abuses that current and former members face was not a thought I could even conjure up. Only Scientology's darkest enemies would think in such a way.
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