Christy Carlson Romano turned to religion to find herself — including a brief stint with Scientology.
“What I was trying to do was find community within me,” the Even Stevens alum, 42, said during the Thursday, October 8, episode of Tish and Brandi Cyrus’ “Sorry We’re Cyrus” podcast.
Romano said she began searching for community “in all these different things,” including relationships and religion.
“If it wasn’t in men, I would try, I tried Buddhism, Scientology, and you know, back to Catholicism or whatever it is,” she continued. “Like, I’ve tried so many different things to just sort of find God.”
Scientology is a religious movement founded in the 1950s by author L. Ron Hubbard and operated by the Church of Scientology. The movement centers around the belief that each person is an immortal spiritual being, called a thetan, that has lived through past lives and inhabits a physical body. The group has been accused of financial exploitation, forced labor and cutting off members from their loved ones.
Tom Cruise is famously a member of the Church of Scientology, while other stars have left the religion, including Leah Remini and Bijou Phillips.
Romano, who shares daughters Sophia, 7, and Isabella, 6, with husband Brendan Rooney, said on Thursday that she hoped to show her kids “how to maintain themselves.”
“Like, sort of an understanding of themselves over the years when even things get hard, if they can know that they can come to me, they can come to their dad, and we can talk about whatever it is,” she explained. “I don’t want them to feel like they can just, like, lose themselves in trying to find community outside of themselves. ‘Cause nine times out of 10 … there’s a risk involved in whatever you’re looking for.”
Romano has recently been promoting her memoir, Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star, which explores the pressures she faced as a child actress in Disney Channel’s Even Stevens, Kim Possible and Cadet Kelly. In the book, which was released on Tuesday, October 6, she writes about early fame, financial instability, addiction, recovery, her family and more.
“Most days I sleep until 3 in the afternoon, get ready for the night, and stay out almost until the sun comes up,” Romano writes in one chapter. “I’m depressed and starting to feel a little untethered, and it scares me. I’ve become so numb, I’ve tried being bulimic just to feel something. I’m already a 00 in my pants size, and I love eating when my appetite isn’t suppressed from anxiety. The drinking doesn’t help, and I feel like if I sleep all day, I’ll spend less money on food.”
She continues, “It’s f***ed up, I know. I try scraping my nails against the insides of my arms to see if I can become a cutter. No such luck. I feel like a dumbass. How was I ever someone’s role model? What would those little girls waiting for an autograph from Belle think if they could see the real me? I’m not even sure I know who that is anymore.”
Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star is available now.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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