Why Jeff Hiller Was Offended He Wasn't 'Invited' by Allison Mack to Join Nxivm Sex Cult (Exclusive)

Jeff Hiller shares many unexpected stories in his new memoir — but one about Allison Mack stands out.

In his book Actress of a Certain Age, the actor and comedian recalls starring in a musical with the “nice” former Smallville actress, 42, and having lunch with her nearly every day for a month. After the documentary about the Nxivm sex cult came out, Hiller, 49, discovered that all of his former castmates were allegedly asked to join it.

But the Somebody Somewhere star claims he wasn’t.

“I’m not apologizing for what she did either, and I also realized she was looking for a specific type of person to join that cult — and it was mainly hot ladies — but I was like, ‘They asked you to join the cult?'” Hiller tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview.

Ultimately, he just wanted to be “invited, period.” Even now, Hiller says he’s still “a little bit protective of” the actress.

“I do feel bad for her, that that happened to her,” he says of Mack.

Mack was arrested on April 20, 2018, when she was accused of recruiting sex slaves for Keith Raniere, who co-founded the controversial self-help group Nxivm and its subgroup, DOS — described as an all-female secret society where women allegedly were forced to be sexually subservient to Raniere.

She was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including racketeering and conspiracy for her role as a prominent leader within the now-defunct self-help group that some have characterized as a cult.

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After serving her time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif., Mack was released in 2023.

Elsewhere in the conversation, Hiller also opened up about his love of celebrity memoirs and the ones that inspired him throughout his writing journey.

“I love Rosie Perez,” he told PEOPLE. “Her book is called Handbook For an Unpredictable Life. It’s really, really good. I loved, Hello, Molly [by] Molly Shannon. Listen, I was all in for Barbara [Streisand] and Cher. They were both great.”

Actress of a Certain Age is available now, wherever books are sold.