Church Of Scientology Held Auditions To Find Tom Cruise A Suitable Wife, Former Member Says

Anette Iren Johansen, a former member of the Church of Scientology, claims that she was one of many women the church auditioned to be Tom Cruise’s wife, before he wed Katie Holmes in 2006.

At the time, Johansen said she had no idea why she was being questioned about her life and family background. She made the connection last year when a magazine reported how the Church of Scientology held auditions to find Cruise his next wife after he broke up with then-girlfriend Penelope Cruz, Johansen said in an article published in Australian magazine Women's Day, according to Daily Mail.

“Every little detail was the same. There is no doubt I was auditioned to be Tom’s wife,” Johansen, who joined the Church of Scientology in 2002 and has featured in a number of training films commissioned by the church, said.

Johansen, who now lives with her boyfriend in Oslo, has no regrets that she couldn’t be Cruise’s wife. “Tom is totally cult minded. I’m very happy that I wasn’t matched up with him,” she told Women’s Day.

Reportedly, Johansen, 36, was training to be a veterinary doctor in Denmark when she was auditioned. According to reports, she was questioned about her sex life and a senior Scientologist wanted to know if she had any “sexual perversions” and if she had had any lesbian affairs.

Marc Headley, a former church member who is said to have worked on a number of such auditions, told the Underground Bunker, a website run by journalist Tony Ortega, that the question of sexuality came up because, “They had some girls with histories that weren’t so great. So they were being careful. This girl has to be perfect in all ways.”

“The auditions didn’t stop until he found Katie later in 2005. So even if he was with one of the girls, they were still working it, casting for the next season of Scientology’s version of The Bachelor,” Headley added.

The Underground Bunker reported that Nazanin Boniadi, an Iranian-British actress, was among the many women whom the Church of Scientology chose as Cruise’s potential wife. Allegedly, she met Cruise in November 2004 after going through a month-long screening process, but their relationship did not last long.