David Duchovny reveals the Church of Scientology once tried to recruit him

David Duchovny has revealed that the Church of Scientology once "made a play" for him after the wedding of his close friend Jason Beghe in 2000.

Beghe was a member of the church at that time — he left in 2007 — but Duchovny made it clear that it wasn't his friend who attempted to recruit him.

The 61-year-old star of The X-Files told The Daily Beast he went through an "auditing" session — a key part of the Scientology religion — but ultimately chose not to pursue it further.

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He said: "They made a play for me. I did squeeze the cans and I did a session on the E-meter, and I realized immediately, because they’re asking very personal questions, that they were gathering information that I didn’t want to give out to a stranger."

Duchovny added: "I didn’t play by the rule, and I never went back."

Watch: Laura Prepon steps away from Scientology

The star and Chicago PD actor Beghe had been close friends for years, with Beghe serving as best man at Duchovny's wedding in 1997.

But Duchovny said Beghe never tried to actively pull him into the Church of Scientology, which he has since criticised since parting ways with the controversial faith.

"He only 'recruited' me in the sense of saying: 'This is great, and I think you should try it', not anything harder than that," said Duchovny.

Read more: Matt Willis says Scientology tried to break up his marriage

Scientology has long counted major Hollywood figures among its members, with Tom Cruise, John Travolta and The Handmaid's Tale star Elisabeth Moss among the most prominent.

Orange is the New Black star Laura Prepon recently announced that Scientology is "no longer a part of my life".

Cruise, meanwhile, has continued to speak publicly about his affection for the religion, telling ITV News in 2016 that he credited Scientology for his big screen success.

He said: "I’ve been a Scientologist for over 30 years. It’s something, you know, without it, I wouldn’t be where I am. So it’s a beautiful religion. I’m incredibly proud.”

Read more: Elisabeth Moss defends her Scientology beliefs

Though Scientology is considered to be a legitimate religion in many countries, others consider it to be dangerous, with France dubbing it a cult and Germany classifying it as an "anti-constitutional sect".

Controversies around Scientology have been explored in several recent films, including Alex Gibney's documentary Going Clear and Louis Theroux's My Scientology Movie.

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