Bethany Joy Lenz hasn’t forgotten the cult that captivated her and changed her life. Now, she is sharing the details.
Although its cast has been around for many years one Tree Hill We went our separate ways, that time is indelible.
Partly because they were CW stars during that time now fell Head of the network. But, for Bethany Joy Lenz, there’s another reason.
He spent a decade of his life in a cult. That difficult period of his life coincides with that one Tree HillOne of the cast even tries to help him see things and how to save him.
Now, she’s coming clean about the whole experience.
‘One Tree Hill’ alum Bethany Joy Lenz is a cult survivor
In the 2000s, Bethany Joy Lenz starred one Tree Hill With Sophia Bush, Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton.
Lenz has come out with a memoir, Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (In an Actual Cult Too!),
The book, which hits store shelves on October 22, details how a controlling, ultra-Christian cult left Bethany Joy Lenz with little to show for her 9 years of TV stardom. She, at least, escaped the cult.
talking to People Before the publication of her memoir, Bethany Joy Lenz revealed that she first became involved with the cult through Bible study. She joined the group after first moving to Los Angeles at the age of 20.
“I was always looking for a place,” Lenz said. She grew up in a world of evangelical Christianity, born to parents who married at an early age and moved around extensively. Acting was a major medium for him, and attending church had always been a social mainstay for him.
At first, Bible study seemed a natural fit. Lenz explained how “We want that kind of intimacy. The idea that there’s someone out there saying, ‘It doesn’t matter what you do or how badly you behave or what stupid choices you make, I still love you, and I’m here for you. “
When did things get worse?
According to the Lays, a guest pastor named “Les” began participating and leading the conversations.
Even when she convinced some of the group members to go and live in a small, commune-like “big house” in Idaho, alarm bells didn’t ring for the actress.
“It still seemed normal. And then it just morphed,” Lenz said. “But by the time it started to change, I was so far into the relationship that I wasn’t even noticing. Plus, I was very young.”
But other people in her life could tell that Bethany Joy Lenz was in a cult. that also includes one Tree Hill Costar.
“I could see it on their faces,” she recalled. “But I would justify it, like, ‘I can’t possibly be in a cult.’ It’s just that I’ve got access to that relationship with God and people that everyone wants, but they don’t know how to get it.
Co-star Craig Sheffer spoke directly to her about Creed at the beginning of filming together, but Lenz was not ready to hear it. She admitted: “I was like, ‘No, no, no. Cults are weird. Cults are people who wear capes and do crazy things and drink the Kool-Aid. We don’t do that!'”
Finally, Bethany Joy Lenz saw Creed for what it was
By that time, Lenz had no idea how to get out. By this point, she had married a fellow cultist – considered a member of the “family”. They had put Rosie together. Lenz wanted to leave her sect and her sectarian marriage.
“The stakes were very high,” Bethany Joy Lenz recalled. “He was my only friend. I was married in this group. I had built my entire life around this. If I admitted I was wrong… everything else would collapse.”
It’s all very textbook. From starting as a simple gathering of like-minded Christians to slowly boiling a frog to connecting people through marriage, children, and finances…that’s how these organizations find and Keep Member. We are very glad that Lenz was able to escape.