Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman: Spied on by Scientology until it ripped them apart - 2018-12-15

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman: Spied on by Scientology until it ripped them apart December 15, 2018, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker

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We have a real treat for you this week in our 'Scientology Lit' series, an excerpt from the excellent book Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia by Steve Cannane. One of the best researched and written books about Scientology in any era, Steve covered a vast amount of territory. We've chosen portions of a later chapter, 'Cruise and Kidman,' with Steve's blessing. Published in 2016, this book contains the last extensive interviews Marty Rathbun gave before he went pear-shaped.

Tom Cruise first saw Nicole Kidman on the big screen in her breakthrough film Dead Calm. Kidman played the role of Rae Ingram, the young wife of a navy officer who is trapped on a yacht in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a sociopath played by Billy Zane. Kidman's character fights off her attacker with a combination of prescription drugs and a harpoon gun. The young actress shone in the role. The Washington Post's movie critic Rita Kempley described her character as an 'Amazon for the '90s.'

Tom Cruise was mesmerised by Kidman's performance. The actor was preparing to shoot Days of Thunder and convinced the producers to cast the 21-year old in the role of Dr Claire Lewicki, a neurosurgeon who falls in love with Cruise's character, an up-andcoming stock car driver named Cole Trickle.

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | author = Tony Ortega | title = Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman: Spied on by Scientology until it ripped them apart | url = https://tonyortega.org/2018/12/15/tom-cruise-and-nicole-kidman-spied-on-by-scientology-until-it-ripped-them-apart/ | work = Underground Bunker | date = December 15, 2018 | accessdate = December 15, 2018 }}