Tom Cruise’s ex-wife you’ve got most likely by no means heard of: Bosch star Mimi Rogers launched actor to Scientology and made startling declare about their intercourse life – now she loves going to county festivals and promoting Cameo movies

Proudly posing at the local county fair with a bundle of foraged hay and a rosette for third place, nobody would have suspected this striking woman in her 60s was once married to arguably the biggest star in Hollywood.  

While fans of Tom Cruise will be well aware of his marriages to Katie Holmes and Nicole Kidman, some could be forgiven for forgetting his first wife – whose life has gone in rather a different direction. 

Tom, now 62, quietly married  Florida-born actress Mimi Rogers, during his rise to fame as a leading man in Top Gun with only two people in attendance as they said their vows.

Mimi, now 68, who is also a professional poker player, is believed to be the person who first introduced Tom to Scientology, a religion that has dominated conversations around the Mission Impossible star throughout his career. 

The pair’s union was short-lived, and they separated after two years in 1989, just days before Tom started filming Days Of Thunder, where he met Nicole Kidman, who would become his second wife.

A photo of the couple at the Vanity Fair Vanity Fair Oscar Party in West Hollywood in 2000 showing Nicole dragging heavily on a cigarette went viral this week, proves  how interest in the couple abides, even two decades after their split. But while Nicole is still very much a leading lady, Mimi has since taken a significant step back from the Hollywood landscape.

While she has starred in the Prime Video series Bosch, a glimpse at Mimi’s social media reveals that her life couldn’t be further from the glitz and glamour of her marriage to Tom.

Alongside her TV work, Mimi has pursued a more unlikely venture, competing at county fairs with her homegrown hay, and she tops up her salary by recording personalised video messages on Cameo. 

Tom and Mimi first met back in 1985 while he was developing Top Gun, though the pair’s recollections of their first encounters are conflicting, to say the least.

The actor, who was 23 at the time, told Rolling Stone in 1986 that he met Mimi, then 29, ‘at a dinner party about a year ago,’ however he revealed that she was ‘dating a friend’ at the time.

‘I thought she was extremely bright,’ Tom said.

Mimi’s version of events appears different, as she previously told Sun Sentinel that she and Tom had been introduced by mutual friends.

‘I wasn’t seeing anybody, he wasn’t seeing anybody, and they thought, “These people should be going out with somebody — let’s see if they want to go out with each other,”‘ she recalled. ‘And we said, “Aw, what the heck. OK”.’

Due to Tom’s vast fame, he and Mimi attempted to keep their marriage a quiet affair, and they tied the knot in 1987 in a ‘very small, intimate and beautiful’ ceremony with just two guests in attendance.

It’s believed that they referred to their big day as ‘The Project,’ and they exchanged vows with The Mighty Ducks actor Emilio Estevez as best man.

Of their time together, Mimi originally spoke fondly, telling Chicago Tribune in 1988: ‘There’s a lot of contentment and security (in marriage). I highly recommend it.’

However, she later spoke about how marriage to Cruise did nothing to boost her career prospects. 

‘Nobody hires you because you’re married to somebody famous–in fact, I think you’re tested a little extra because of it,’ she said. 

It’s believed that during their marriage, Mimi, who was six years older than Cruise, a divorcee, and a professional poker player, was the one who introduced him to Scientology.

Her father was one of the original members of the church and was close to the founder L.Ron Hubbard as well as being a prominent Mission Holder.

What’s more, her first marriage was to a Scientology counsellor named Jim Rogers. 

In an interview with the LA Times, Rogers explained that the philosophy was ‘simply part of my upbringing’ and that her father, a civil engineer, had become involved with the church before she was born. 

‘I think it was an excellent system of belief to grow up with because Scientology offers an extremely pragmatic method for taking spiritual concerns and breaking them down into everyday applications,’ she said.

Following their split, it’s believed Mimi left the religion and her father reportedly was declared a ‘suppressive person’ after he too quit in the early 1980s, while Tom remains one of the most famous members of the church. 

In 1989, just two years after they married, Tom filed for divorce from Mimi, which was finalised the following year. 

According to Andrew Morton’s Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography, Tom chose to end his marriage just two days before he was due to start Days of Thunder, where he would star opposite Nicole Kidman, who later became his second wife.

In a statement announcing their split, Tom and Mimi said: ‘While there have been positive aspects to our marriage, there were some issues which could not be resolved even after working on them for a period of time.’

Just days before their split, Tom couldn’t speak more highly of his spouse, telling Rolling Stone: ‘I think it’s helped me be a better actor. 

We live a lot of life together. We share everything. That’s the best thing about life. 

‘Otherwise, you go through it pretty sad and lonely and angry.’

‘I care about my wife more than anything in the world. She’s my best friend. I just really like being with her, you know? I love her.’

Tom and Mimi’s divorce was finalised in February 1990, with the actress receiving a reported $4 million settlement, and just 10 months later, he and Nicole tied the knot.

Following their split, Mimi revealed that her sex life with Tom had dried up in the months leading to their divorce.

She told Playboy in 1993: ”Here’s the real story Tom was seriously thinking of becoming a monk. At least for that period of time, it looked as though marriage wouldn’t fit into his overall spiritual needs. 

‘And he thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument,’ adding that her own instrument ‘needed tuning.’

Reflecting on their relationship, she told People in 1995: ‘You cease to be an individual. No matter what the article is, it’s ”Tom Cruise’s wife …”

However she went onto tell The Telegraph in 2001 that ‘stardom wasn’t really a problem’ in their marriage.

Since her split from Tom, Mimi has continued to pursue acting, with roles in shows such as The X Files, Two and a Half Men and Mad Men.

More recently, she has starred in the Prime Video series Bosch, which is based on a trio of novels by Michael Connelly.

The show focuses on LAPD detective Harry Bosch, as he strives to solve a string of murders, with Mimi playing civil rights attorney Honey ‘Money’ Chandler.

While she originally had a recurring role on the show, Mimi was upgraded to a full-time cast member for Bosche’s seventh and final season in 2021.

She then went onto reprise her role in Amazon Freevee spin-off Bosch: Legacy, with its third and final season set to be released in March.

Reflecting on her decision to pursue acting in 2022, she told Smashing Interviews Magazine: ‘You know, I don’t have a deep, complicated reason. I enjoy books and storytelling, and it just seemed like it would be a fun thing to do. 

‘It seemed like it would be a fun job. Unfortunately, I was very naïve and didn’t realize there were millions of people that thought the same thing (laughs). 

‘So I just blithely started out and said, “Okay. That’s what I’m going to do.” Fortunately, it worked out (laughs).’

Away from the small screen, Mimi has also shared on Instagram that she’s been selling her homegrown hay at County Fairs.

Sharing a snap of her successes back in August, she wrote: ‘Our hay did really well at the county fair. Took third for first cutting and fourth for second cutting!’

Mimi also sells personalised birthday messages for her fans on Cameo, charging £102.50 for a recorded clip.

Following her split from Tom, Mimi married her third husband, producer Chris Ciaffa, in 2003, and they have two children, daughter Lucy, 30, and son Charlie, 23.