One night about seven years ago, the actor Jason Beghe stumbled upon his own Wikipedia page. At the bottom he found a four-word phrase that nauseated him: Public supporter of Scientology. Beghe, who currently stars in the hit NBC show Chicago P.D., had left the church in disgust months earlier, though he hadnt yet made that public. I wrote a non-confrontational assertion that I wasnt a Scientologist anymore, and Wikipedia kept rejecting it, he says. My buddy explained the information had to be verified.
Beghe decided to take more dramatic action. He posted a two-hour video on YouTubein which he claimed the organization was very dangerous for your spiritual, psychological, mental, emotional health and evolution. The video shot around the world. It also put him in Scientologys crosshairs. (They call Beghe unreliable, dishonest and biased, and grouphim with other former members whohave spoken out against the church. Click here to read a detailed letterwhere they respond to the allegations that Beghe makes in this Q&A.)
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A journeyman character actor whos had roles in everything from Thelma & Louise to G.I. Jane, Beghe is the most charismatic talking head in Going Clear, the new Scientology documentary from director Alex Gibney. In the film, Beghe rails at the church in a raspy tough-guy voice (it was damaged after he yanked tubes out of his throat while hospitalized for a 1999 car accident). But Going Clearreveals only part of his story, and he phoned up Rolling Stone to tell us more.
What did you think of Going Clear?
Ive only had time to see a rough cut on my iPad. Im also not the guy to ask since its all old news to me. I suspect its going to be effective as a movie and parts are really eye-opening. I think it provides useful evidence and information to make people think twice about getting involved in Scientology. And hopefully if someone is involved, this might start greasing the path for them to get out.
I think a lot of people whosee this will learn things they never knew.
The funny thing is that its all out there, but its in Lawrence Wrights book or these small chatrooms. People find movies more accessible.
I suppose before the Internet it was a lot easier for anyoneto suppress information.
Yeah, they tried in the beginning, but theyre so incompetent at handling these things. They always use a hammer. They dont have any fine tools. Theyre very rough. There was a great description of them by a guy in Anonymous. He said theyre constantly shooting foot bullets. Every time they try to handle something, they shoot themselves in the foot. You can almost count on them to do it.
They must be doing something right if theyre continuing to make all this money.
Well, yeah, if you find that rewarding. Theres easier ways to make money. I just think theres some kind of evil intention at the root of it if thats how you chose to do it.
Did you worry that by speaking out like this theyd come after you?
Not really. As soon as I posted that video on YouTube they contacted me. Its interesting because theyre very adept at pushing buttons. I thought, Huh, itll be interesting to see how theyll try and do this with me. The first thing they did was send my quote/unquote friends to call me all hurt. They were like, Golly. . .You know. . .Golly. It was interesting since it showed they thought I cared about other people.
After that I started to do more research and I learned stuff I didnt know when I made the first video. It was one thing to take money and rip me off, but when I heard about the shit with the Sea Org, the violence and the cruelty. . .Its one thing to take someones bread. Its another thing to take their soul. I felt like I had something to do with it, so I became a little more active. For a couple of years I became a real pain in the ass to them, so they started to attack me with phony lawsuits. They tried to bankrupt me and they came close.
What was the lawsuit?
They sent someone to my house and they filed this lawsuit saying I beat the shit out of him, which is not true.
Was he a Scientologist? What happened?
No. He was some process server that they hired. They know how to push my buttons. If I tell you to leave my property, and you dont and Ive screamed at you about five or 10times, Im going to escort you out, which is what I did. But they said he was hospitalized and all this stuff. They forced him to go to the hospital and do all this stuff, but there was nothing there. And I didnt beat the shit out of him. I mean, I probably scared him.
They probably spent millions of dollars. They just wanted to lose my attention and all my money. It probably cost me something like $250,000. [The process servers attorney tells Rolling Stone that Beghe pleaded no contest and says the actorsversion of events here is false.]
In the meantime, you have people showing up like the head of Child Protective Services and the head of the Special Victims Unit of Los Angeles investigating an anonymous tip that I abused my children.
Wow.
Then they have to talk to the principal, and the doctor, and the best friends parents and all this shit. Also, I probably had five P.I.s following me for a year or two. My kids would go to school and theyd say, Oh, theres Beghe and his P.I. Everybody at the Malibu Elementary knew what a P.I. was.
What were they trying to do with all that?
I dont understand what their intention was. I think they just want you to think about them. Whats ironic is they have this whole big thing about disconnecting from people outside of Scientology, but if you fucking disconnect from them, those bitches will not let you go.
To go back a bit here, why did you leave the church in the first place?
I think the word would be attrition. My last 10years in the organization was really the worst time of my life. I think my breaking point came when my wife got pregnant. I was like, Holy shit. Im going to be a father. I wanted to be a good father, so I started thinking about what what meant. I thought maybe Id try to make a lot of money, but I knew rich people growing up and their kids were unhappy.
I figured out the best thing I could be was myself, so I did a fearless inventory of all the bullshit in my life. At that point, I realized that Scientology wasnt me. The next day I walked in and said, I gotta get out of here. I cant maintain my own integrity and remain a member of this organization. Its possible to have an amicable divorce, and I think its in both of our best interests we part ways.
They were insistent that I stay and talk to some people. I said, Ill talk to whoever you want, but I can be pretty convincing. If you send someone to talk to me, Im probably going to at least put some doubt in their universe. I think that four of the six people they sent to convince me to stay ended up leaving after talking to me. So, anyway, they hate me.
The movie says that their membership rate keeps declining. Why do you think thats happening?
Well, because they arent running it well. [Church leader David] Miscavige is a sociopath. I mean, I had an idea to make them some fucking money and get a lot of people involved! I used to say, This is bullshit! How are we going to clear the planet with these prices? I think my line was, You cant clear Beverly Hills with these prices! If they were smart, instead of trying to be Gucci, theyd be Walmart. They should let you go clear for $200.
Did you go clear?
Oh yeah! Im Operating Thetan V. Im auditor. I could clear you!
Did you ever see any of the violence they talk about in the movie?
No, no, no, no. I saw some things that were ugly sometimes, but not violent. It was emotional violence and I always complained about it.
How did you react when they told you about Xenu?
Well, I looked at it like a story. Its kinda like the Immaculate Conception. Whether its symbolic or not, its just a way of understanding something. I was an auditor, so Im looking at it as an auditor. Thats just a background story in order to help you facilitate the task at hand.
Leaving the church didnt seem to hurt your career at all. Chicago P.D. is a huge hit. Youre doing better than ever.
I think getting out was good for me career-wise. My finances were drained and I had a family. I said, OK, I gotta get a series or something because thats good money. And so that was that. Ive never been that ambitious. Ive always been kinda lazy, but I finally have more time and attention that I can put to things that are more creative and rewarding.
It must be gratifying to star in a show thats doing so well and seems to have a long future ahead of it.
I dont think like that. I mean, its good. I just try to do a good job. I always try to make the show better. Its just funny. I know [the Scientologists] hate me so much. Their entire scripture says that if you leave Scientology, youre going to fall apart and die. The fact that I kicked their asses and have these tough guys posters saying Dont Fuck With Me all over the country, there was a little bit of a giggle in that for me.
Once again, you have no fear that theyre going to just keep coming after you if you speak out like this?
What are they gonna go? Whatever happens, Ill deal with that when I deal with it. I cant live my life in fear. And I dont really think about those guys. Everybody wants to talk about this and Im like, Im done. Im over it. If somebody does something to hurt me or my children or my wife or my friends, even you, then I will respondhowever I respond.