Former Scientologist actress Leah Remini to publish revealing tell-all: source

By Eric Kelsey

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Leah Remini, one of the most prominent celebrities to leave the Church of Scientology, is planning to publish a memoir about her life, a source close to the actress said.

It is not known how much Remini will divulge about the church in which she was raised, but the actress has received "a number of offers" from publishers, the source told Reuters late on Friday.

Remini, 43, who is best known for her role in the CBS comedy "The King of Queens," has given little explanation on why she chose to split from the church that lists Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta among its members.

Last month the New York Post newspaper first reported that Remini had left the church after "being subjected to years of ‘interrogations' and ‘thought modification' for questioning leader David Miscavige's rule."

The church declined to comment on news of Remini's memoir.

To date, a handful of Scientology's celebrity members have left the church, but none has published an insider account of their time there.

Film director Paul Haggis, who along with actress and Cruise's ex-wife Katie Holmes are among the church's most high-profile defections, has spoken publicly about his experiences and disagreements with church policies.

Earlier this week Haggis wrote an open letter published in The Hollywood Reporter trade magazine expressing support for Remini, who he said has come under attack from celebrities in the church.

"I can't express how much I admire Leah," Haggis wrote. "Her parents, family and close friends were almost all Scientologists; the stakes for her were so much higher than for me. Her decision to leave was so much braver."

Jenna Miscavige Hill, the church leader's niece, published a memoir in February, "Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape," that details her life growing up in the religion until she left it in 2005.

Scientology, which was founded in 1954 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, describes its practices as a religion and believes man is an immortal being whose experience extends beyond one lifetime.

Critics of the church say the religion is a cult and accuse Scientologists of harassing people who seek to quit.

Miscavige succeeded Hubbard as leader of Scientology in 1987.

(Editing by Mary Milliken and Vicki Allen)

[Co-hosts Julie Chen (L) and Leah Remini joke during the CBS, Showtime and the CW Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, California, July 28, 2010. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson]