Why do you think your respective shows are striking a chord, and what does their success say about our culture today?
KJ:I think the reason we became something of a phenomenon is because there are so many of us. Everybody can relate to somebody in my family, whether you’re 7 or you’re 107. And people just got emotionally attached and invested in seeing this family evolve: They’re getting married, getting divorced, having babies.
Kris, you brought your younger daughters into this world early on. How did you prepare them?
KJ: We decided as a family that if we’re going to do this, we would just show everything. And one of the best decisions I made not only as a producer of the show but as one of the stars of the show was to say, “We’re not going to remove anything.” With that philosophy, I told the kids, “Don’t get on the internet.” Ryan Seacrest, my producing partner, had told [my daughter] Kim about this little thing called Twitter, which she might be interested in. There wasn’t Instagram or Snapchat or any of this other stuff then. Now, it’s so heightened and, you know, haters are gonna hate. You expect it now.
As a mother, how do you tell your daughters to tune that out?
KJ: Kim leads the pack, and she’s the queen of thick skin. She counsels everybody else. So if something happens in the family, she’s the first one you call. “What should I do? How should I handle this?” But it’s my grandchildren who I worry about because I have six of them; the oldest just turned 7, and my youngest is 6 months old, and they don’t have a choice. And I worry, I do, because it is such a bullying environment.
[The Hollywood Reporter]
Leah Remini: I Get Scared Every Time I Talk To A Former Scientologist
On people understanding how dangerous Scientology is:
The Church of Scientology has been in the news, but more so for fodder and a headline. What we are trying to do is show that this is a real thing that’s tearing families apart. People really had no idea. It was like, “Oh, this is that crazy thing where Tom Cruise is jumping on a couch and everybody believes in aliens?” I think that worked for a very long time to sell headlines. But we’re showing how a person actually can get there, and that’s what’s resonating. Also, we’re standing up to a bully and, in a culture where people are feeling apathetic, we’re representing a group of courageous people who are saying, “No, I’m going to do something about it.”
On if she gets nervous:
I feel scared every time I sit down with somebody, even though I was in the Church of Scientology for 35 years. I was raised in it. I’m scared to hear what they’re going to tell me. [Question: Like, it’s worse than you think?] Yes.
If she’s scared of the church:
Oh, no, no, no. Don’t misunderstand me. People who know me know that I have a very big mouth, and I have been that way since I was a kid. I would go up against men and go, “What, what are you going to do?” They were like, “I’d knock you out in two seconds.” I’m all, “Try it, try it!” But I never want to give the organization of Scientology the idea that anybody is scared of them. We are not. And the more they react in the way that they do, it makes me think we’re doing the right thing.
On if she’s brave:
I But it’s not me, that’s the thing. I wish I could say, “Look how brave I am.” I’m telling their stories. When we leave, they go back to their regular lives, and they are the ones the church goes after. When we air a show, I go, “Just know, within minutes your daughter is going to be saying horrific things about you on the church hate website.” Literally every single person who has done a story about Scientology has a hate website on them.
On if she vets the people she interviews:
It’s funny you ask that because when we started the show, legal was like, “Do you know this person personally?” I said, “I don’t need to know the person. I just know that they’re telling the truth.” I thought, “How dare you. This is not somebody who is getting paid to be on this show; there are repercussions to them being on the show.” And what the hell fame would they get from saying, “I was coerced by my church to get an abortion”? Or, “I was raped by someone.” … I mean, nobody really wants to tell that story. So there is no vetting. I take their word for it. [Per an A&E spokesperson: “Although Leah does not personally vet the participants in the show, the network and production company legal teams do carefully vet people and stories featured on the program.”]
[From THR]
