6 Celebrities Who Have Opened Up About Their Time in Cults

Mar. 15, 2025

Bethany Joy Lenz, Joaquin Phoenix and Glenn Close.Photo:Jason Kempin/Getty; Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty; Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty

Jason Kempin/Getty; Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty; Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty

These actors are speaking out about their time spent in cults.

Read on to learn more about the hardships endured, and what it took to break out.

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Bethany Joy Lenz

Bethany Joy Lenz.John Russo

John Russo

“I don’t think of it as brave,” she told PEOPLE about her decision to share. “I think of it as important. Living silently in the suffering I experienced, I don’t know if that helps anyone.”

Lenz tells PEOPLE that though herOTHcastmates expressed concern, she denied anything was wrong.

“I was like, ‘No, no, no. Cults are weird,” she recalls telling Craig Sheffer when he asked ifs he was in one, adding. “Cults are people in robes chanting crazy things and drinking Kool-Aid. That’s not what we do!'”

She ended up marrying a fellow “family” member and the two welcomed a daughter together; in 2012, though, she realized she needed to leave both her marriage and the group.

02of 06Joaquin PhoenixJoaquin Phoenix.Gareth Cattermole/GettyBy the time Joaquin Phoenix was born, his parentsArlynand John Lee Phoenix had already joined thereligious cult Children of God. Before leaving the the group when he was 3 years old, his parents were considered “archbishops” of Venezuela and Trinidad for the group, theJokeractor toldVanity Fairin 2019.In a 2014 interview withPlayboy,Joaquin, who isone of five siblings, said his family’s involvement in the cult “was really innocent on my parents’ part” and that when they “realized there was something more to [Children of God], they got out."“They got some letter, or however it came, some suggestion of that, and they were like, ‘F— this, we’re outta here,’ ” he said of his parents' decision to leave after they found out about the group’s sex recruitment tactics. “I think they were idealists, and believed that they were with a group who shared their beliefs, and their values. I think they probably were looking for safety, and family.”

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Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix.Gareth Cattermole/Getty

Gareth Cattermole/Getty

By the time Joaquin Phoenix was born, his parentsArlynand John Lee Phoenix had already joined thereligious cult Children of God. Before leaving the the group when he was 3 years old, his parents were considered “archbishops” of Venezuela and Trinidad for the group, theJokeractor toldVanity Fairin 2019.

In a 2014 interview withPlayboy,Joaquin, who isone of five siblings, said his family’s involvement in the cult “was really innocent on my parents' part” and that when they “realized there was something more to [Children of God], they got out."

“They got some letter, or however it came, some suggestion of that, and they were like, ‘F— this, we’re outta here,’ ” he said of his parents' decision to leave after they found out about the group’s sex recruitment tactics. “I think they were idealists, and believed that they were with a group who shared their beliefs, and their values. I think they probably were looking for safety, and family.”

03of 06Rose McGowanRose McGowan in 2024.Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via GettyRose McGowan also lived part of her childhood as part of Children of God.“Like in most cults, you were cut off from your [outside] family. There were no newspapers, no television. You were kept in the dark so you would obey,” she told PEOPLE of her experience.“I remember watching how the [cult’s] men were with the women, and at a very early age I decided I did not want to be like those women,” she continued. “They were basically there to serve the men sexually; [men] were allowed to have more than one wife.“When McGowan’s father “got wind that the group was starting to advocate child/adult sex,“he and Rose fled.

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Rose McGowan

Rose McGowan in 2024.Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via Getty

Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via Getty

Rose McGowan also lived part of her childhood as part of Children of God.

“Like in most cults, you were cut off from your [outside] family. There were no newspapers, no television. You were kept in the dark so you would obey,” she told PEOPLE of her experience.

“I remember watching how the [cult’s] men were with the women, and at a very early age I decided I did not want to be like those women,” she continued. “They were basically there to serve the men sexually; [men] were allowed to have more than one wife.”

When McGowan’s father “got wind that the group was starting to advocate child/adult sex,“he and Rose fled.

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Glenn Close

Glenn Close.Griffin Lipson/BFA/REX/Shutterstock

Griffin Lipson/BFA/REX/Shutterstock

When Glenn Close was just 7 years old, her father, Dr. William Taliaferro Close, joined a conservative religious group, Moral Re-Armament.

Her father moved the family to the group’s headquarters in Switzerland where they lived for 15 years.

Her time in the cult had lasting impact on her ability to make relationships with others as left her “psychologically traumatized.”

“Because of the devastation, emotional and psychological of the cult, I have not been successful in my relationships and finding a permanent partner and I am sorry about that,” she said. “I think it is our natural state to be connected like that. I don’t think you ever change your trigger points, but at least you can be aware of them and maybe avoid situations that might make you vulnerable, especially in relationships.”

05of 06Michelle PfeifferMichelle Pfeiffer.MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via GettyAfter moving to L.A. at 20 years old, Michelle Pfeiffer met a “very controlling” couple who were “kind of personal trainers” who believed in breatharianism — the notion that people can live without food or water, she toldThe Sunday Telegraph’s Stella magazine (perCBS News.)“They were very controlling. I wasn’t living with them but I was there a lot and they were always telling me I needed to come more,” she said. “I had to pay for all the time I was there, so it was financially very draining.“Pfeiffer would later realize something wasn’t right while helping her first husband, Peter Horton, research for a movie about the Moonies (people who follow the Unification Church). Her research into another cult-like group led to the realization that “I was in one.““We were talking with an ex-Moonie and he was describing the psychological manipulation and I just clicked,” she said.

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Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer.MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty

MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty

After moving to L.A. at 20 years old, Michelle Pfeiffer met a “very controlling” couple who were “kind of personal trainers” who believed in breatharianism — the notion that people can live without food or water, she toldThe Sunday Telegraph’s Stella magazine (perCBS News.)

“They were very controlling. I wasn’t living with them but I was there a lot and they were always telling me I needed to come more,” she said. “I had to pay for all the time I was there, so it was financially very draining.”

Pfeiffer would later realize something wasn’t right while helping her first husband, Peter Horton, research for a movie about the Moonies (people who follow the Unification Church). Her research into another cult-like group led to the realization that “I was in one.”

“We were talking with an ex-Moonie and he was describing the psychological manipulation and I just clicked,” she said.

06of 06India OxenbergIndia Oxenberg.Ysa PerezIndia Oxenberg lived under the NXIVM cult for seven years before she escaped with the help of her mother,actress Catherine Oxenberg. During that time she was endured physical and mental abuse that includedbranding, forced sex and starvation.“I used exercise to punish myself: ‘I ate a lot, so now I have to walk 20 miles’, ” shetold PEOPLE.As part ofSmallvilleactress Allison Mack’s role as a NXIVM leader, she used to direct Oxenberg to weigh herself and report every calorie she consumed. Mack waslater convicted of racketeering and conspiracyand served two years in federal prison.

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India Oxenberg

India Oxenberg.Ysa Perez

Ysa Perez

India Oxenberg lived under the NXIVM cult for seven years before she escaped with the help of her mother,actress Catherine Oxenberg. During that time she was endured physical and mental abuse that includedbranding, forced sex and starvation.

“I used exercise to punish myself: ‘I ate a lot, so now I have to walk 20 miles’, ” shetold PEOPLE.

As part ofSmallvilleactress Allison Mack’s role as a NXIVM leader, she used to direct Oxenberg to weigh herself and report every calorie she consumed. Mack waslater convicted of racketeering and conspiracyand served two years in federal prison.

source: people.com