Elisabeth Moss Defends Scientology in Rare Comment About the Church

Actress responds to fan question about how her religion factors into “The Handmaid’s Tale”

E. Brady Robinson

Elisabeth Moss has spoken up about a subject on which she normally keeps quiet: her religion. On Tuesday, the “Handmaid’s Tale” actress addressed a fan’s question about Scientology via her Instagram account.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BX0zOgSDNlV/

In the above post, Moss thanks her fans for supporting “The Handmaid’s Tale” and expresses her excitement to start filming season two. Amid all the congratulatory comments, one Instagram user (known as @moelybanks) posed an interesting question.

“Love this adaptation so much,” moelybanks wrote. “Question though, does it make you think twice about Scientology? Both Gilead and Scientology both believe that all outside sources (aka news) are wrong or evil… it’s just very interesting.” (Gilead is a fictional totalitarian society in which THT is set.)

Moss offered the following response: “That’s actually not true at all about Scientology. Religious freedom and tolerance and understanding the truth and equal rights for every race, religion and creed are extremely important to me. The most important things to me probably. And so Gilead and THT hit me on a very personal level. Thanks for the interesting question!”

The Instagram user then thanked the actress for her explanation.

According to People, Moss’ family introduced her to Scientology. Though she has embraced the religion, she rarely speaks publicly about it.

In a 2016 interview with The Guardian, she explained, “It is weird for me to be put in the position where I am like, ‘No, I can’t. I don’t really want to talk about this…I become fascinated with things that are none of my business as well…I am very interested in what people are wearing, and all of that kind of thing, but you have a right to your privacy.”

Moss is Emmy nominated for her performance in the Hulu show.

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