Paul Haggis on Scientology: "I Wish I Had Left Earlier"

"You want to limit the amount of time you live as a fool," Haggis said.

Paul Haggis wishes he would have left Scientology earlier and said he would have been a part of Alex Gibney's religious expose film, Going Clear, a decade ago to limit his time living "as a fool."

"I would have done [Going Clear] 10 years earlier [if possible] because you want to limit the amount of time you live as a fool," Haggis told Page Six in an interview on Wednesday.

The screenwriter was featured in Gibney's documentary, which debuted at Sundance Film Festival this year, and left the religion in 2009 after dedicating 35 years of his life to Scientology.

"I just wish I had left earlier," the screenwriter continued.

In April, Haggis alleged that a Church of Scientology spy posed as a Time magazine reporter, Mark Webber, in an effort to get a one-to-one interview with him. After investigating where the email originated, Haggis' team discovered that the email was sent from a computer at 5165 Fountain Avenue in Los Angeles. The structure, known as the Anthony Building, is supposedly owned by the Church of Scientology and the Yahoo email account was created on April 1, just days before the interview request was sent.

Haggis' staff reached out to Webber again to try to verify that he was writing a piece for Time magazine but never heard back.

The Church of Scientology did not immediately respond to a request for comment.