SPOILER ALERT: How new Homeland star Nazanin Boniadi was 'vetted' by Scientologists to become Tom Cruise's third wife
- Stunning actress Nazanin had a brief romance with megastar Cruise after being told she was 'going to save the world', it was alleged
- She was told to dump her boyfriend before dating Cruise in 2004, it was claimed
- Nazanin allegedly insulted church leader David Miscaviage - and was punished by being forced to clean toilets with a toothbrush
- She quit the Church of Scientology in 2010 - and rapped: 'This ain't no road to freedom/It's a blind alley, like Kirstie Alley/Travolta, and Cruise, but we ain't no fools'
By SARA NATHAN
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She made her debut on TV hit Homeland on Sunday night - playing a new Muslim CIA analyst tasked with tracking down terrorists by gruff boss Saul Berenson.
But Nazanin Boniadi has already been on a 'mission' of her own after it was alleged she was vetted to become Tom Cruise's girlfriend by Scientology chiefs - and told she was 'going to save the world'.
The stunning 31-year-old actress plays rookie analyst Fara in the Showtime series, but she hit the headlines last year after Vanity Fair reported that Nazanin was secretly chosen to date A list star Tom, 51, before he married Katie Holmes - and the pair enjoyed a brief romance.
Vetted: New Homeland star Nazanin Boniadi was at the center of allegations that she had been vetted by Scientologists to become Tom Cruise's girlfriend
Co-stars: Nazanin plays Fara, a new Muslim CIA analyst, berated by CIA boss Saul Berenson, played by Mandy Patinkin
Maureen Orth, a special correspondent for Vanity Fair, last year claimed in a bombshell article that Scientology officials auditioned 'dozen of young women' for Tom Cruise prior to his marriage to Katie in 2009.
And she alleged that Iranian-born, London-raised Nazanin 'was told she was being chosen for a mission' and was 'really going to save the world'.
Maureen also claimed that Nazanin did not know what was in store for her - or that she would end up meeting Cruise.
The claims were strenuously denied by the Church of Scientology at the time.
However, the writer told Good Morning America in September 2012: '[She] was told that she was being chosen for a mission, that was really going to save the world. That she was going to be meeting dignitaries, that it was very important that she look good, and be worldly.'
She went on: 'And she had no idea, when it began, that [she] was going to end up meeting Tom Cruise.'
Nazanin has appeared on TV in a number of series including comedy How I Met Your Mother, but her appearance on Homeland could prove to be her biggest role yet.
Millions watched as the slight brunette made her debut as Fara, a young Persian transactions analyst brought in to help Saul trace the Langley bombing operation's funding and its origins.
She was left in tears as Saul chided her for not working hard enough and pointing out to her headscarf, raged: 'That thing you're wearing on your head... is one big 'f**k you' to the people you work with," he tells her. "Give me a goddamn plan or don't say anything.'
But Fara retaliated by bringing in the bankers suspected of illegally partnering with an Iranianin trading company - before discovering that the usual banking fees removed from wire transfers had simply disappeared. A total of $45 million had gone to an unknown individual, and Saul suspected finding that money will lead in the right direction.
In the spotlight: Nazanin Boniadi 'was told she was being chosen for a mission' and was 'really going to save the world,' according to Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth
Newly single: Cruise poses with fans while out with friends in Croatia earlier this week
Scoot: Katie Holmes teaches seven-year-old daughter Suri how to ride her scooter to school in Manhattan on Monday
Vanity Fair published its feature on Cruise just months his third wife, actress Katie Holmes, blindsided him by filing for divorce in June 2012.
Among its claims were that the Mission Impossible star knew that Scientology chiefs were vetting potential love interests for him before he started dating Katie, 34, in 2005.
In the article, Orth claimed that a project to identify a new partner for Cruise, following the break-up of his relationships with Nicole Kidman and Penelope Cruz, started in 2004 and was headed by Shelly Miscavige, wife of the church's top official David Miscavige.
Speaking about the vetting process, she said: 'I do believe that [Cruise] was very much aware that it was going on, or at least he had certainly heard about her, because by the time he met her he did know all about her.'
Former official Marc Headley, interviewed in the Vanity Fair piece, claimed that a number of Scientologist actresses were interviewed by church leaders and told they were being considered for a role in a new training video.
Controversial cover story: The October 2012 issue of Vanity Fair
However, they were allegedly faced with unexpected questions such as: 'What do you think of Tom Cruise?'
Katie Holmes, who did not become a Scientologist until she started going out with Cruise, was not part of this process, the article said.
Instead, Mrs Miscavige allegedly chose Nazanin Boniadi, then 24, to be the megastar's new partner.
The reports went on to claim she was told she had been selected for 'a very important mission', and ordered to break up with her boyfriend.
When Nazanin was flown to New York and taken for dinner by Cruise at trendy restaurant Nobu, she began to suspect she was part of an elaborate set-up, Orth wrote.
The pair went ice-skating at Rockefeller Center, where the rink had been closed for them, then spent the night together, it was alleged.
The actress, who has appeared in General Hospital blockbuster Iron Man, was also made to sign multiple confidentiality agreements over her relationship with Cruise, Vanity Fair claimed.
Her relationship with the star remained a secret, and the couple were together from November 2004 until January 2005, during which time Nazanin allegedly lived with Cruise.
However, she found herself out of favour with Cruise after unintentionally insulting church leader Miscavige by saying "Excuse me?" and asking him to repeat himself more than once, apparently an indication in Scientology that one is not a good communicator or listener.
After their relationship ended, Nazanin was allegedly sent away to the Scientology facilities in Clearwater, Florida, where she was forced to clean toilets with a toothbrush, scrub bathroom tiles with acid and dig ditches in the middle of the night. All the allegations were denied by the Church of Scientology.
However, former Scientologist, director Paul Haggis stated that this was true - and said Nazanin had quit the church in 2010 after 'several years of trying to handle this injustice internally, to no avail'.
And in December 2012, Nazanin released a rap song that made it clear she was no longer associated with Scientology, rapping: 'But we all know how it is/This ain't no road to freedom
It's a blind alley, like Kirstie Alley/Travolta, and Cruise, but we ain't no fools'
It's a blind alley, like Kirstie Alley/Travolta, and Cruise, but we ain't no fools'
Just a few months after the break-up, Cruise started dating former Dawson's Creek star Katie, who converted to Scientology ahead of their marriage in November 2006.
The couple went on to marry in Rome in November 2006 following the birth of their daughter Suri in April 2006. Katie filed for divorce in June 2012 and the split was finalised two weeks later.
Family: The once-golden Hollywood couple together with their daughter Suri in Japan in 2009
Speaking out: Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth appeared on Good Morning America today where she stood by claims in her article that Scientology officials auditioned women to be Tom Cruise's girlfriend
At the time of the Vanity Fair article, the Church of Scientology released a statement that read: 'The entire story is hogwash. There was no project, secret or otherwise, ever conducted by the Church to find a bride (audition or otherwise) for any member of the Church. Never.
'The allegation and entire premise of the Vanity Fair article is totally false. Like clockwork, stories about this 'phantom' audition surface in the tabloids every few months. We have been denying this ridiculous tale now since it first appeared in print FOUR years ago.'
A spokesman for Cruise also poured cold water on the article, saying: 'Lies in a different font are still lies - designed to sell magazines.'
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