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Carmen Llywelyn, also known as Carmen Lee, is an American actress and photographer.

Career

She starred in the 1996 film Drawing Flies, a View Askew production directed by Matthew Gissing and Malcolm Ingram, and produced by Kevin Smith. She portrayed Kim in the 1997 film Chasing Amy directed by Kevin Smith; co-stars included Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, and Joey Lauren Adams. She appeared in the 2000 film Cowboys and Angels alongside actors Radha Mitchell and Mia Kirshner. She was the lead actress in Free (2001), opposite Corin Nemec, also starring Randall Batinkoff and Ione Skye.

Personal life

In 1994, Llywelyn met Jason Lee, then a professional skateboarder. In 1995, the couple were married in a ceremony presided over by actor Bodhi Elfman. In March 2001, the couple lived together in Southern California. Llywelyn and Lee obtained a divorce in 2001. Lee stated of their separation, "Our breakup had nothing to do with Hollywood or my career."

Llywelyn entered a long-term relationship, with someone other than Lee, in 2003 and the couple became parents of twins in 2004. As of 2015, the family lived together in Atlanta.

Relationship with the Church of Scientology

Llywelyn was introduced to the Church of Scientology by her then-husband Jason Lee, who was then a member of the organization. According to Llywelyn, her resistance to becoming more involved with Scientology was a cause of problems in their relationship.

According to her account, after she revealed to her Scientologist talent manager Gay Ribisi (mother of actor Giovanni Ribisi) that she had read A Piece of Blue Sky, a book critical of the Church, she was labeled a suppressive person and shunned (or "disconnected") by her friends within the church. Her husband sent a "disconnection letter" as a sign of contempt two days after said conversation; he would ironically drop out of his involvement of Scientology 15 years later. Llywelyn's manager, a member of the Church, also "disconnected" and allegedly convinced United Talent Agency to drop Llywelyn as a client.

Since her departure, Llywelyn has been an outspoken critic of the Church of Scientology. She has expressed distaste for the classist undertones of Scientology.

She has stated the organization has harassed her, pursuant to the fair game policy. Llywelyn reports being subjected to a campaign of surveillance and harassment. Writes Llywelyn: "Scientology has a sophisticated intelligence agency known as the Office of Special Affairs, which is essentially a complex system dedicated to ruining the lives of those it sees as enemies in any way possible. Those who work for the OSA do not follow the law."

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ Lu, Anne (April 5, 2010). "Jason Lee's Ex-Wife Claims Scientology Ruined Her Life". All Headline News. www.allheadlinenews.com. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
2. Heldman, Breanne L. (November 24, 2008). "Earl Star Jason Lee Adds Husband Moniker". E! Online. www.eonline.com. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
3. Eisner, Ken (November 25, 1996). "Drawing Flies". Variety. Reed Elsevier Inc. p. 76.
4. "IndieDVD Releases 'Lost' Kevin Smith Production Drawing Flies; Filmed Between 'Mallrats' and 'Chasing Amy' and Never Finished Until Now". Business Wire. Business Wire, Inc. February 12, 2002.
5. Kleemann, Brian (April 18, 1997). "Characters chase sexuality, self-identity in 'Amy'". Sun Publications. Illinois. p. 5.
6. Johnson, Malcolm (April 18, 1997). "'Chasing' is simply charming - A young man falls for wrong woman - She's a lesbian". The Hartford Courant. The Hartford Courant Co. p. E3.
7. Vice, Jeff (February 9, 2001). "' Cowboys and Angels ' is a pretty sweet ride". The Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Publishing Company. p. W05.
8. ^ Llywelyn, Carmen (June 23, 2015). "Why I Left Scientology". Gawker. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
9. Bryant, Adam (November 25, 2008). "Jason Lee's Name Is Married Man". TV Guide. www.tvguide.com. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
10. "Jason Lee Latest Celeb to Reveal Secret Marriage". Fox News Channel. Fox News. November 25, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
11. Westbrook, Bruce (March 14, 2001). "'Almost Famous' star keeps looking for box-office buzz". Houston Chronicle. p. 1.
12. "tv today's: Star file Jason Lee". The Western Mail. April 10, 2008. p. 23.
13. ""Earl", la bague au doigt !". Allocine (in French). www.allocine.fr. November 26, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
14. Wolf, Jeanne (New York Times News Services) (September 11, 2002). "Skateboarding champion turns actor; He likes to grab plenty of sleep, but Jason Lee has career desires". The Record. Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. p. E4.
15. Norville, Deborah (May 13, 2010). "Inside Edition". Global Broadcast Database. iNewsNetwork.
16. "Ex-Scientologist Carmen Llywelyn blasts 'cult' and her treatment after divorce with Jason Lee". independent.co.uk. June 30, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
17. Bueno, Antoinette (September 20, 2016). "Jason Lee Reveals He Left the Church of Scientology". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
18. ^ Carmen Llywelyn (June 23, 2015). "Why I Left Scientology". Gawker. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
19. "Awards for Carmen Llywelyn". Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc. 2010. Retrieved July 2, 2010.

Further reading

• Muir, John Kenneth (2002). An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith. Applause Books. pp. 85, 118, 137, 180, 182. ISBN 1-55783-586-1.

External links

• Book of Girl, blog of Carmen Llywelyn
• Carmen Llywelyn at IMDb
• Carmen Llywelyn on Twitter

• American film actresses
• Living people
• American people of Welsh descent
• 1973 births
• American former Scientologists
• Critics of Scientology
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century American women photographers
• 21st-century American photographers