Elisabeth Moss gives rare statement on her Scientology roots laid against her role on The Handmaid’s Tale: ‘It’s a complicated thing’
Elisabeth Moss has opened up about her beliefs in Scientology, and the complicated dynamics of her art.
The Emmy award-winning star, 36, spoke Monday with The Daily Beast in a comprehensive chat in which she commented on her faith.
Moss went in detail about about the contrast between the feminist roles she’s championed on shows such as Mad Men and The Handmaid’s Tale, and many of the tenets of Scientology that might conflict with the former.
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The latest: Elisabeth Moss, 36, opened up about her belief in Scientology, and the complicated dynamics in balancing her beliefs with her art. She was snapped at SXSW in March
‘It’s a complicated thing because the things that I believe in, I can only speak to my personal experience and my personal beliefs,’ Moss said. ‘One of the things I believe in is freedom of speech. I believe we as humans should be able to critique things. I believe in freedom of the press. I believe in people being able to speak their own opinions.
‘I don’t ever want to take that away from anybody, because that actually is very important to me.’
Moss said that it’s critical for people to ‘educate themselves for themselves and form their own opinion’ before coming to their conclusions.
Moss, who plays June Osborne on The Handmaid’s Tale, said the show represents a cross of ‘something that is artistically fulfilling but is also personally fulfilling’ to her, as it ‘lines up so perfectly parallel with my own beliefs in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the things that this country was actually built on.’
To each their own: Moss said that it’s critical for people to ‘educate themselves for themselves and form their own opinion’ before coming to their conclusions
Signature role: Moss plays June Osborne on The Handmaid’s Tale
Moss, asked to comment on controversies that Scientology has bumped up against, expressed how uncomfortable the topic can be, and how she typically avoids it altogether.
‘There’s two things you’re never supposed to talk about at a dinner – politics or religion – and of course I’m doing The Handmaid’s Tale, which is politics and religion, so it’s a strange situation where you’re going to be asked about these topics,’ she said. ‘I choose to express myself in my work and my art.
‘I don’t choose to express myself about it in interviews. I don’t choose to talk about not just religion, but my personal life – who I’m dating and that kind of thing.’
Asked about purported anti-LGBT tenets within the church, Moss stressed she’s ‘obviously a huge feminist and huge supporter of the LGBTQ community’ as well as free will.
‘I can’t speak to what other people believe, I can’t speak to what other people’s experiences have been,’ said Moss. ‘That’s where I stand and the only place I can speak from is my own.’
