John Stamos spoke candidly about his private life and said he once attended an introductory session for the Church of Scientology.
But in the end, he did not make the best first impression on some of the leaders of the time.
Rewind to 1980, when the aspiring actor was 17. Stamos showed interest in the organization, primarily for two reasons: first, because a beautiful young woman invited him to a meeting in Los Angeles, and second, because John Travolta, a member of Scientology since 1975 and coincidentally his acting hero.
‘I was in an acting class and there was this sexy girl, [who] said to me, “You know, we’re all coming together on this [place] on Hollywood Boulevard you have to imagine [class]’, Stamos, now 61, recalled during a performance at the Podcast Friends in High Places.
It was another two years before he made his acting debut in the role of Blackie Parrish on the popular ABC soap opera General Hospital in 1982.
John Stamos, 61, revealed he attended a Scientology introductory session in Los Angeles for two reasons: He was invited by a “hot girl” and his acting hero was John Tavolta, who has been a member since 1975; Stamos is pictured in May 2023
Ultimately, it was the combination of an invitation from a hot girl and his love of all things John Travolta that inspired him to give it a try and attend one of the gatherings.
“I was working in my dad’s restaurant at the time and I said, ‘Dad, I have to go.’ So I went and it was the Scientology building,” he said of the experience 44 years ago.
‘To see [Grease] “It was like, ‘I want to be that,’” Stamos recalled. “I wanted to be John Travolta, I still do. Well, minus whatever they’re doing.”
His acting hero, the Grease and Saturday Night Fever star, will celebrate his 50th anniversary as a Scientologist next year, while Stamos only lasted through that one introductory session.
Stamos says he was taken to the Scientology building and introduced to a machine known as the “E-Meter,” which consisted of two cans. The church claims the so-called electropsychometer device can indicate changes in emotional states to identify stored engrams and “levels of spiritual distress,” according to a description on its website.
The former Full House employee immediately played with the device, pretending to make a fake phone call.
‘I did a Peabody and Sherman [impression] and they didn’t like it,’ Stamos explained. ‘Then I was just messing around so much, they said, ‘Get out of here. [and] “Go ahead.” They just threw me out.
Podcast host Matt Friend then joked that the ER alum was just “too annoying” to be asked to join the controversial organization, which has been described by various people as a religious movement, a corporation or a cult.
“That’s pretty bad, I must have been terrible,” Stamos said of his behavior.
Stamos was an aspiring actor and taking lessons when he was invited to attend a Scientology session in Hollywood. That was two years before he landed his breakout role as Blackie Parrish on the hit soap opera General Hospital. He is pictured around the time he landed the role on GH
In his memoir If You Would Have Told Me (2023), the actor and author detailed his experience with Scientology, calling it “scary as f**k” after the visit
Previously, in his memoir If You Would Have Told Me (2023), the Cypress, California, resident told the story of a young lady named Mia who gave him a workbook about the Church of Scientology, along with several other books he had accidentally forgotten.
Intrigued enough to see what it was, Stamos told us more about the experience he had during the introductory session.
‘[One man] starts asking me questions about committing crimes, asks if I have negative thoughts about Scientology or [founder] L. Ron Hubbard and explores strange sexual questions,’ he wrote. ‘The Wayback Machine needle jumps in the corner and Mia looks disappointed. Apparently I’m not Scientology material. Damn it.’
Although the book intrigued Stamos enough that he stopped by the church location, he quickly described it as “scary as f**k.”
