Rose McGowan has found herself in the headlines for a number of reasons throughout her career. In order to fully understand her story and how she has come this far, we must first start with her upbringing. As a child, McGowan’s life was not like everyone else’s, as she grew up in a cult known as the Children of God. This polygamous cult is known for its infamous blend of free love and traditional Christian values, and had a tremendous effect on McGowan’s early life, according to an interview the actor did with People.
A tough childhood
McGowan speaks with admiration about her parents. Her mother was fluent in three languages and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. However, her father, a talented artist, fell in with the Children of God.
McGowan learned to read by the age of 3 but also spoke of the fact that the cult would pressure people to have as many children as they could within a short period of time. If anyone made plans to leave, they would receive veiled threats about the welfare of their little ones.
A restricted life
Newspapers and television were not allowed, and even something as simple as nail polish was a no go in her household.
“God could see the filth under my nails,” she said in an Interview with People when asked why it was forbidden. “God could see you’re bad, you’re evil,” she went on to say. With a childhood like this, it is easy to see how her parents became part of the Children of God cult.
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Members were not allowed to keep their own money. McGowan even shared a painful memory of having all of her lira taken away from her, money that she had earned playing the banjo. Imperfections were not tolerated, either. McGowan had a wart on her thumb and it was sliced off against her will, as she was left to bleed out and cry.
What happened to Rose McGowan next?
McGowan knew that she was not cut out for this life from a young age. She told the cult leaders that she had not let God into her heart. She lit a stack of Bibles on fire, drew monsters and sharks and did not carry on the tradition that she was born into.
Once her father caught wind of the fact that the cult was planning child-adult sexual encounters, that was it. They had to sneak out during the night and hid in an old stone house, evading the cult’s attempts to recapture them. Eventually, she and her father made their way to Colorado. Her mother had stayed behind in Florence before making her way to the US.
McGowan was sent to live with her family in Oregon but ran away. She spent a year living on the street before reconnecting with her father, who married his second wife from the cult.
