Behind The Brave

In October 2017, ROSE McGOWAN went public with rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Now, in an EXTRACT FROM HER MEMOIR, Brave, the actress describes her upbringing in the Children of God cult, her rise to fame – and the attack that almost destroyed her

- Rose Mcgowan

In a stone barn, in a tiny town in the Italian countryside, delivered by a blind midwife, I came into the world. I suppose some people are earmarked for weirdness from birth, and I think I’m one of those. The barn was on the property of the Duke of Zoagli, who, upon joining the Children of God, had donated his estate and land to the cult. It was beautiful there, in the rolling hills outside Florence, the dark green cypresses and silvery green olive trees, vineyards and orchards, those enormous terracotta jars holding red geraniums. I suppose if you have to be in a cult, it was as good a place as any.

From my earliest memories I recall hearing a lot about a terrifying man named ‘Moses’ David Berg, our fearless leader in the Children of God. He would send his directives out in cartoon pamphlets called ‘Mo Letters’. Whatever Moses David wrote, that’s what was done, as if the ruler of the universe had spoken.

In Rome, where we were taken to busk for the cult, I’d see regular families with kids walking around with gelatos and I’d wonder about their lives at home. Did they have a bed? We had plastic mats and I got cold at night. The girls wore pretty dresses; I had faded brown overalls and Jesus sandals. My hands and feet would get dirty and I’d try to hide them when cleaner children looked at me.