Leah Marie Remini (/ˈrɛmɪni/; born June 15, 1970) is an American actress. She starred as Carrie Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens (1998–2007) and as Vanessa Celluci in the CBS sitcom Kevin Can Wait (2017–2018), both alongside Kevin James.
Remini coproduced and hosted the A&E documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath (2016–2019), for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special. She also cohosted the daytime talk show The Talk (2010–2011). Remini's films include the comedy Old School (2003), the mystery comedy Handsome (2017), and the romantic comedy Second Act (2018).
After being a member of the Church of Scientology from childhood, Remini left the organization in 2013. Two years later, Remini released her book, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology; the memoir became number one on the New York Times best-seller list. In 2016, she followed up with an Emmy Award-winning documentary television series on A&E, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, where she created a platform for victims and survivors of Scientology.
Since July 2020, Remini has been the cohost of the podcast Scientology: Fair Game, alongside Mike Rinder.
Early life
Leah Marie Remini was born on June 15, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York City, to Vicki Marshall and George Remini, who owned an asbestos removal company. Her mother is of Austrian Jewish descent, while her father has Italian ancestry, rooted in Sicily. Remini was raised in Bensonhurst.
Remini was baptized into the Catholic Church as an infant and raised in the faith during her early childhood. When she was eight years old, her mother joined the Church of Scientology, and Remini was thereafter raised as a Scientologist. At 13 years old, Remini and sister Nicole were taken to join Scientology's Paramilitary organization called the Sea Organization, where they were forced to sign billion-year contracts and work for their room and board. Sea Org children do not live with their parents, are treated as adults, and work around the clock. Remini's mother decided to take her children out of the Sea Org and return to civilian Scientology life within the same year. Remini moved to Los Angeles, California, with her mother and sisters, where she spent the remainder of her teenage years working to pay off their debt to Scientology. This debt, known as a Freeloader Debt or Freeloader Bill, is a retroactive billing for any auditing received or any Scientology training received while in the Sea Org, and can run into tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. In addition, Remini and her family worked regular jobs to pay for continuing Scientology courses and services.
