Who Is Sofia Bella Pagan? Everything to Know About Leah Remini’s Daughter

Sofia Bella Pagan is the daughter of actress Leah Remini and actor Angelo Pagan, and she holds a distinctive place in her mother’s public story as the person Remini has directly credited with helping her decide to leave the Church of Scientology. Sofia has grown up largely out of the spotlight compared to her mother, but she has appeared alongside her family in a handful of televised and public moments over the years. This article gathers the verified, publicly reported facts about Sofia Bella Pagan, her parents, her upbringing, and her family’s well documented departure from Scientology.

Sofia Bella Pagan: Quick Bio Table

Birth and Family Background

Sofia Bella Pagan was born on June 16, 2004, weighing just under 6 pounds, 5 ounces. She is the only child of actress Leah Remini and her husband, actor and singer Angelo Pagan. Remini and Pagan met in 1996 at a Cuban restaurant, and Pagan, who already had three sons from earlier relationships, married Remini in a Las Vegas ceremony on July 19, 2003, officiated by a Scientology minister at the time.

Sofia grew up with three older stepbrothers from her father’s side, making her the youngest child in a blended family, and the only daughter shared directly by Remini and Pagan.

Her Mother’s Career Before Sofia Was Born

Leah Remini had already built a substantial career in television by the time Sofia was born in 2004. She rose to prominence in the 1990s and early 2000s as one of the stars of the long running sitcom “The King of Queens,” playing Carrie Heffernan opposite Kevin James for nine seasons. That role made Remini a familiar face in American households well before she became known for her personal story about Scientology, and it gave the family a level of financial and public stability that shaped the environment Sofia was born into.

Sofia’s father, Angelo Pagan, worked as an actor, singer, and producer, and the two met in 1996 at a Cuban restaurant, beginning a relationship that eventually led to marriage in 2003. Pagan brought three sons from earlier relationships into the marriage, meaning Sofia joined an already established blended family as its youngest member and its only daughter.

An Upbringing Inside the Church of Scientology

For the first several years of her life, Sofia was raised within the Church of Scientology, the same religious organization in which her mother had been raised since childhood. Leah Remini has spoken extensively in interviews and in her own writing about growing up in Scientology and about her eventual decision to leave the church as an adult with a young daughter of her own.

Remini has said that watching her own mother prioritize the church over family played a significant role in her decision to leave, and she has been direct in crediting Sofia specifically as the catalyst for that choice. In one widely cited comment, Remini described her devotion to her daughter in the strongest possible terms, saying she would do anything for her. Remini has explained that she did not want to raise Sofia inside an organization that, in her account, tends to become someone’s entire world at the expense of everything else, including family relationships.

Leaving Scientology in 2013

Leah Remini publicly departed the Church of Scientology in 2013, a decision that became a major news story at the time given her decades long association with the organization and her prior public defenses of it. The departure marked a significant turning point not just for Remini’s personal life but for her public career, since she went on to become one of the most prominent public critics of the church, eventually producing and hosting a television series examining accounts from other former members.

For Sofia, who was around nine years old at the time, the family’s exit from Scientology meant a significant shift in her upbringing, moving from a childhood inside the church’s community and belief system to a more conventional American childhood outside of it.

Remini’s departure also led to a major second act in her career. She went on to write a bestselling memoir about her experiences in the church and later created and hosted an Emmy winning documentary series that featured interviews with other former Scientology members describing their own experiences leaving the organization. That series became one of the most talked about pieces of television journalism on the subject, and it firmly established Remini as one of the church’s most prominent public critics, a role that grew directly out of the decision she has said was driven by wanting a different life for Sofia.

A Catholic Baptism and a New Chapter

In September 2015, over Labor Day weekend, Leah Remini shared photos of Sofia’s baptism into the Catholic Church, describing it as a special day for her daughter and using the phrase “new beginnings” to mark the occasion. The baptism, which took place when Sofia was eleven years old, was widely viewed as a symbolic step reflecting the family’s move away from Scientology and toward a different spiritual and community life.

Remini has spoken about wanting her daughter to have the freedom to explore her own beliefs and relationships without the structure that had shaped Remini’s own childhood, and the Catholic baptism appeared to be part of that broader effort to give Sofia a more open path forward.

Public Appearances and Early Exposure to Television

Sofia has appeared on camera a handful of times alongside her family, most notably in her mother’s reality television series, which followed Remini’s family life at various points over the years. She also appeared in a 2016 music video for singer JoJo Siwa’s song “Boomerang,” in which Sofia played the role of a mean girl in the video’s storyline.

These appearances have been occasional rather than career defining, and Sofia has not pursued the kind of consistent acting or entertainment career that her mother built. In May 2022, Remini shared that Sofia had celebrated her senior prom, remarking publicly that her daughter was growing up quickly, a comment that reflected the more typical, low profile adolescence Sofia has experienced compared to many children of famous parents.

Her Parents’ Divorce

After more than two decades together, Leah Remini announced in August 2024 that she and Angelo Pagan had decided to divorce. The divorce was finalized in October 2024. Both Remini and Pagan have largely kept the details of their separation private, and there has been little public commentary from either parent about how the divorce has affected Sofia, who was an adult by the time the split was announced.

The end of her parents’ marriage came after Sofia had already reached adulthood, which likely limited the kind of custody related coverage that often accompanies celebrity divorces involving younger children. Remini has continued to work steadily in television and podcasting since the divorce, while Pagan has kept a lower public profile, and neither parent has publicly discussed how the split has affected their relationship with Sofia or her stepbrothers.

Life Away From Her Mother’s Spotlight

Compared to her mother, who has built a decades long career in television and became a prominent public figure through both her acting work and her Scientology advocacy, Sofia has kept a comparatively low public profile. She has not given interviews about her own life, and detailed information about her education, career plans, or personal relationships has not been made public through verified sources.

This pattern is consistent with how Remini has generally discussed her daughter, focusing more on Sofia’s role in her own personal journey, particularly regarding the decision to leave Scientology, rather than promoting Sofia as a public figure in her own right.

It is also worth noting that many children of well known actors eventually face a choice about whether to pursue entertainment careers themselves or to build lives in other fields. So far, Sofia has not publicly signaled a strong pursuit of an acting or entertainment career beyond the handful of appearances tied directly to her family. Given that she reached adulthood only a few years ago, it remains to be seen whether she will follow either of her parents into entertainment or choose an entirely different path, and there is no indication from verified sources that this decision has been made public either way.

What is clear from the available record is that Sofia’s upbringing, while touched by two very public events, her family’s religious departure and her parents’ entertainment careers, has otherwise followed a fairly typical path from childhood through high school and into early adulthood, without the kind of constant media exposure that some children of famous parents experience from a young age.

Conclusion

Sofia Bella Pagan’s story is closely tied to one of the more significant personal decisions her mother has made in public life, namely Leah Remini’s departure from the Church of Scientology, a choice Remini has repeatedly said Sofia inspired. Beyond that pivotal role, Sofia has grown up largely outside the spotlight, with occasional appearances alongside her family but no major public career of her own, a contrast that becomes especially clear when set against her mother’s decades of consistent television work and public advocacy. As an adult now navigating life after her parents’ 2024 divorce, her story remains mostly defined by family rather than by any public role she has chosen for herself.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sofia Bella Pagan

Who is Sofia Bella Pagan?

Sofia Bella Pagan is the daughter of actress Leah Remini and actor Angelo Pagan, born on June 16, 2004.

Why is Sofia Bella Pagan connected to her mother leaving Scientology?

Leah Remini has said that her love for Sofia was a major reason she decided to leave the Church of Scientology in 2013, not wanting to raise her daughter inside the organization.

Does Sofia Bella Pagan have siblings?

Yes. She has three older stepbrothers from her father Angelo Pagan’s previous relationships, making her the youngest child in the family.

Has Sofia Bella Pagan appeared on television?

Yes. She has appeared in her mother’s reality television series and had a small role in a 2016 JoJo Siwa music video.

Are Sofia Bella Pagan’s parents still married?

No. Leah Remini announced her divorce from Angelo Pagan in August 2024, and it was finalized in October 2024.