In a new interview on the podcast Friend in High Places with Matt Friend, actor John Stamos revealed that he nearly joined the Church of Scientology in the late ’70s, but thankfully he was so annoying they kicked him out.
“I was in an acting class, and there was this hot girl who was like, ‘We’re all meeting at this address on Hollywood Boulevard, come after this,’” the Full House star explained. “So I went and it was the Scientology building... I was 17, maybe 16.”
Stamos continued, “So they brought me in there, and there was this guy, [he said] ‘Come over here,’ and they have this E-Meter where you’re holding these two cans…”
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An E-Meter, or electropsychometer, is a device that Scientologists used to claim can read people’s emotions. For young Stamos, however, the device looked a lot like the Wayback Machine from the ‘60s cartoon The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, particularly the recurring “Peabody's Improbable History” segment.
“I was doing a Peabody at the Wayback machine,” Stamos explained. “They didn’t like that. And then I was just f---ing around so much they [said], ‘get out, get, go,’ and they just kind of kicked me out.”
“So you’re telling me that they didn’t let you into Scientology because you were messing around too much?” said an amazed Matt Friend. “You were too annoying for Scientology?”
“Yeah,” said Stamos. “That’s pretty bad, I must’ve been terrible.”
Stamos avoided being one of the many Hollywood actors who’ve been heavily involved with Scientology. Big names like Leah Remini and Laura Prepon have famously been members of the church for years before finally leaving, whereas stars like Tom Cruise, Elisabeth Moss, and John Travolta have never left. It was Travolta specifically that spurred Stamos’ story in the first place.
“I wanted to be John Travolta,” Stamos said. “I still do, minus the, y’know... whatever that is.”
