Actor John Stamos has opened up about how he was almost recruited by the Church of Scientology back in the 1980s.
The Full House star detailed the incident in his memoir, If You Would Have Told Me, which was released in October 2023.
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In an excerpt published in the New York Post, Stamos revealed that his introduction to Scientology had come from someone who had previously been his acting teacher's assistant, called Mia.
He described how she had come out to meet him and given him some books he had forgotten, as well as one extra which he described as a 'brick'.
Stamos recalled: “I’m walking to my car and Mia runs out and hands me my workbooks.
“‘Hey, you forgot these.’ She adds an extra book, the size of a brick, to my stack. ‘Start with this one,’ she says, smiling. ‘I think it will open your eyes to some amazing things.’"
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Stamos went on to recount how he had started reading the book while working a service industry job.
He wrote: “I crack open the book while on my shift at Yellow Basket [restaurant].
“There’s a lot about control: controlling your reactionary mind, controlling energy, controlling space and controlling time.”
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The actor went on to share that he had met Mia at another location, which he later realized was the Celebrity Centre for Scientology in Hollywood, California.
He described it as 'grand, ornate and creepy as f**k', calling it 'a cross between Chateau Marmont, Disney’s Haunted Mansion and a mental hospital'.
Nonetheless, he went into the building and underwent an 'auditing session' with the organization.
These are described on the Church of Scientology's website as being used to 'bring people from a condition of spiritual blindness to spiritual existence'.
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Recalling the process, Stamos wrote: “All I can think about is the Wayback Machine from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show deployed by the genius beagle, Mr Peabody, and his adopted human boy, Sherman, to time travel through different dimensions."
One part of the process apparently involved being given a strange contraption, with Stamos writing: “I’m handed two round things that look like cans. I put one to my ear and the other to my mouth and mimic talking into an old-timey telephone: ‘Hello, there.’”
The actor then recalled how a 'weird little man' asked him about 'committing crimes' and 'if I have negative thoughts about Scientology or [founder] L Ron Hubbard', as well as some 'strange sex inquiries'.
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Ultimately though, Stamos recalled that he was not eligible for the organization.
During an appearance on the Friends In High Places podcast, he opened up about the incident further by adding: "I was doing a Peabody and Sherman [impression] and they didn’t like that.
"Then, I was just f**king around so much, they said, ‘Get out [and] get going.’ They just kicked me out."
Stamos wrote in his memoir: “The Wayback Machine needle jumps in the corner, and Mia looks disappointed. Apparently, I’m not Scientology material. Darn it.”
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UNILAD has contacted the Church of Scientology for comment.
Kit Roberts