Leah Remini's Fight Against Scientology 'I Am Not Afraid'

Four years after walking away from the controversial religion, the actress opens up about how she’s moving on with the help of family and friends— and why she’ll never stop fighting back against the church she claims wants to silence her.

- Jeff Nelson

Leah Remini’s daughter Sofia is 13—the age Remini was when her own life changed forever. It’s a fact Remini thinks about often. “When I was her age, thinking about what I was doing—she’s very lucky,” says the King of Queens star, who was an eighth grader when her family moved to Clearwater, Fla., to join Sea Org, Scientology’s clergy-like order for its most dedicated members. “She doesn’t know what it means to get up and start working from 7 in the morning to 10 at night with virtually no schooling. It’s very difficult to hear your child say ‘I hate my school’ when things get rough. I’m like, ‘I wish I had a school.’ ”

Remini, 47, left the Church of Scientology four years ago—and has since become one of its most vocal critics. (The church has denounced her as a liar and publicity seeker and said her account of child labor and other claims about the religion are false.) Her 2015 memoir Troublemaker was a bestseller, and she shares fellow ex-Scientologists’ stories, including allegations of abuse within the church, on her Emmy-nominated A&E docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, now in its second season. (She’ll soon reunite with her King of Queens co-star Kevin James in the CBS sitcom Kevin Can Wait.) She’s also still grappling with the aftermath of her own 30 years in Scientology, from dealing with church officials calling her “pathetic” to finding new structure for her life with husband Angelo Pagán, 59, and Sofia. “I’m finally at peace knowing who I am and who I want to be,” she says. “I just want to be happy—and to help people. I’m one of the lucky ones.”