Church of Scientology Told Actress Vetted to Be Tom Cruise's Partner She Would 'Save the World,' Writer Says
Actress told she was chosen for a mission" and was "going to save the world."
Sept. 5, 2012 — -- The actress who was allegedly selected by the Church of Scientology as a candidate to be Tom Cruise's real-life girlfriend "was told she was being chosen for a mission" and was "really going to save the world," according to the author of Vanity Fair's magazine article detailing the couple's relationship.
As particulars of Maureen Orth's story continue to surface -- and Cruise and the Church of Scientology continue to vehemently deny the allegations -- Orth, the magazine's special correspondent, told "Good Morning America" today that as Iranian-born, London-raised actress Nazanin Boniadi was being carefully vetted, she did not know what was in store for her.
"[She] was told that she was being chosen for a mission, that was really going to save the world," Orth said. "That she was going to be meeting dignitaries, that it was very important that she look good, and be worldly. And she had no idea, when it began, that [she] was going to end up meeting Tom Cruise."
The allegations in Orth's article include that the Church of Scientology was interested in finding Cruise "a drop-dead beautiful true believer to share his life..." and "a believer they thought could actually wear the glass slippers."
Orth writes that during the process, at which point Cruise was filming the 2005 film "War of the Worlds," only Scientologist actresses were chosen to audition for what they thought was a training film. Then, they were asked, "What do you think of Tom Cruise?"
Once Boniadi, then 25, was chosen, she underwent a month-long vetting process and was asked to reveal every detail of "her innermost secrets, including every detail of her sex life," according to the article.
Orth says the church told her to darken her hair to "emphasize her ethnicity," lose her braces and encouraged her to break up with her boyfriend, whom she was reportedly hoping to marry.
The actress even reportedly signed a confidentiality agreement and was told that if she "messed up," she would be declared an enemy of Scientology, according to the Vanity Fair article.
"I do believe that [Cruise] was very much aware that it was going on, or at least he had certainly heard about her, because by the time he met her he did know all about her," she said on "GMA."
Orth wrote in her article that that entire audition process was overseen by Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology chief David Miscavige.
The Church of Scientology told ABC News in a statement Tuesday, "The entire story is hogwash. There was no project, secret or otherwise, ever conducted by the Church to find a bride (audition or otherwise) for any member."
A rep for Cruise told ABC News in a statement Monday, "Lies in a different font are still lies -- designed to sell magazines."
ABC News reached out to Boniadi Tuesday, but she had no statement or comments about the Vanity Fair story. Boniadi is no longer affiliated with Scientology.
Speaking on "GMA" today, Orth defended her article, saying that all of her sourcing passes muster.
"It would be very hard for the people that I talked to on the record to have corroborated the intense amount of detail that is in the story, to have made that up out of whole cloth," she said. "We have vetted this story, we have legally checked it. And I feel very comfortable with the sourcing."
