Tom Cruise’s First Wife Left Scientology After They Divorced — Despite Introducing Him to It
Tom Cruise remains on top after all these years. Top Gun: Maverick earned nearly $1.5 billion at the box office, and scored six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. But as great as his recent film work has been, some think most of his links to Scientology. Cruise is synonymous with the controversial religion now, but it was his first wife, Mimi Rogers, who introduced him to the church. The couple eventually divorced, and Rogers left Scientology for good. Like most stories related to the church, the story behind their split is strange and full of unconfirmed rumors.
How did Tom Cruise meet his first wife, Mimi Rogers?
Cruise and Rogers started dating in 1985. In hindsight, it was probably a red flag that the pair couldn’t even agree on how they first met.
Cruise told Rolling Stone that same year that they ran into each other at a dinner party. While he was attracted to her, the actor didn’t pursue her because Rogers was dating someone else at the time.
But Rogers remembered their encounter differently. She told Us Weekly in 1987 that she was single and that mutual friends set them up. “I wasn’t seeing anybody, he wasn’t seeing anybody, and they thought, ‘These people should be going out with somebody. Let’s see if they want to go out with each other,'” she said (via the South Florida Sun Sentinel). “And we said, ‘Aw, what the heck. Okay.'”
Whatever compelled them to start dating, they fell for each other very fast. Cruise and Rogers married on May 9, 1987, with Emilio Estevez serving as the best man. Privacy was so important to them that even Cruise’s publicist was reportedly unaware of their intentions.
Unfortunately, their love faded as soon as it bloomed. Cruise and Rogers divorced in 1990. The media speculated that Cruise’s ascendant fame and the age difference between them (Rogers is eight years older than Cruise) were the reasons. But the truth lies somewhere in their religious affiliations.
Scientology brought them Cruise and Rogers together — and possibly broke them up
Rogers’ father, Philip C. Spickler, was a Scientologist with close connections to its founder L. Ron Hubbard. (Spickler left the church in the early ’80s.) Mimi was also a member of the church and worked as an auditor in the organization prior to her acting career. She introduced Cruise to the religion while they were together.
Scientology likely played a role in their breakup. As reported by Page Six, former church executive Mike Rinder claimed in his memoir A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology, that Scientology officials were assigned to convince Rogers into divorcing Cruise so that he could begin a relationship with Nicole Kidman.
Former Scientology inspector general Marty Rathbun told a similar story to Vanity Fair, but also added that the church played a part in Cruise’s future separation from Kidman as well. “Both women got cold on [Scientology head David] Miscavige. He was integral to the breakup of the marriages.”
Rogers has never confirmed these events herself, but she did leave Scientology at an unspecified date.
Their careers have gone on very different trajectories since the divorce
After breaking up with Cruise, Rogers appeared in movies like Trees Lounge, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, and Ginger Snaps. But aside from a recurring role in the TV show Bosch as a combative attorney named Honey Chandler, she has faded into obscurity in recent years. Rogers married her current husband, producer Chris Ciaffa, in 2003. The couple has two children together.
Meanwhile, Cruise continued his ascent to the top. The success of Maverick combined with the resurgence of the Mission Impossible franchise gives Cruise as much power in Hollywood as he’s had in decades.
It’s tough to deny the death-defying greatness of his most recent movies, but the numerous stories about his involvement in Scientology and how it affects his relationships with his ex-wives and his children can’t be forgotten just because of his elite stuntwork. Separating art from the artist is always a thorny subject. But the dissonance between his on-screen heroism and his suspicious behavior in real life does have to be acknowledged.
