Russell Crowe revealed in an interview that he almost became a Scientologist. The Oscar winner said he spoke to Tom Cruise about becoming a member of the controversial religion.

“When I met Tom, when he was married to Nicole [Kidman], we were spending a bit of time together so I thought I’d find out a little bit about what he was into,” Crowe told People magazine.

“I found a video in the video store about Scientology and I watched it,” said Crowe. “It wasn’t that informative. But I brought it up with Tom and I thought he was really cool. He didn’t try to sell me a pair of shoes. He just said, ‘If it’s something that interests you, you’ll pursue it.’ And I think that happens with any kind of religion if you come to it by your own discovery.”

Despite the initial interest, Crowe never became a Scientologist. “I’ve never graced [Scientology’s] doorway,” said Crowe.

Scientology has been under a lot of scrutiny since the popular HBO documentary Going Clear premiered.  The documentary alleged that there has been abuse of members and famous Scientologists like Cruise are silent about the treatment of fellow members.

“Cruise is the big kahuna and that’s why we’ve gone to the trouble of calling him out,” said Going Clear director Alex Gibney. “We believe that he has a responsibility to say something about the abuse.”

Another famous Scientologist, John Travolta, said he is disappointed with the Going Clear documentary.

“I’ve been so happy with my experience in the last 40 years…that I really don’t have anything to say that would shed light on (a documentary) so decidedly negative,” said Travolta.