Who is Allison Mack?

SMALLVILLE star Allison Mack faced years behind bars for her connection with a sex cult that enslaved women.

Though the actress spent 11 years with NXIVM, she recalls her time as the “biggest mistake and regret" of her life.

Who is Allison Mack?

Mack, 40, starred in Smallville as Chloe Sullivan and also worked as a producer and director. 

The actress was born on July 29, 1982, in Preetz, West Germany, to Jonathan - an opera singer - and Mindy Mack, who was in Germany at the time of her birth because her father was performing there.

While she is best known for her role in Smallville, her acting career began at four years old in advertisements for German Chocolate.

She began studying at the Young Actors Space in Los Angeles when she was seven years old, and in 1998 landed her first television role in an episode of 7th Heaven.

She also briefly featured in Opposite Sex in 2000, R.L. Stine's miniseries The Nightmare Room, and film roles in Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, My Horrible Year, Camp Nowhere and Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.

Mack won several awards and nominations for her portrayal of Chloe in Smallville, including the Teen Choice Award for Best Sidekick in 2006 and 2007.

In 2012, she was cast in a recurring role in the second season of the FX sitcom Wilfred, as Amanda, the love interest of Elijah Wood's lead character Ryan.

In 2014, Mack guest-starred as a policewoman named Hilary in an episode of the Fox thriller The Following.

Most recently, the former star made headlines due to her involvement with NXIVM.

How is Allison Mack linked to the NXIVM 'sex cult'?

NXIVM claimed to be a self-help group that gives classes and seminars that help clients with personal and professional development.

There was a training system where students referred to founder as "founder."

Mack was allegedly a "master" in the cult and therefore had to obey orders from leader Raniere.

She allegedly had to find bed partners for him, run 40 miles a week and keep a strict diet to stay as skinny as possible.

An ex-publicist for the "cult" claimed Mack was in charge of recruiting new women into NXIVM - and in April 2019, she pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracies.

Writing in a blog post on his personal website, Frank Parlato claimed that Mack started branding her initials on other women.

He claimed: "Mack, the second in command of DOS – which stands for Dominus Obsequious Sororium (translating to 'the slave women under the master') – reportedly has Raniere’s initials branded on her pubic region.

"And she has her own initials, along with Raniere’s, branded on dozens of other women.

"She used her celebrity status to persuade women into sending Raniere graphic nude pictures and confessions to use as blackmail and used her own home to have them branded with a hot iron by physician Dr Danielle Roberts, one of the slave women of Mack and Raniere."

It is said more than 12,000 people signed up for classes between 1998 and 2010.

Personal information and pictures were collected as part of the initiation.

Branding is also said to be used on some members - reportedly dubbed "slaves."

In one shocking email seen by The Sun, members were told to fast for 12 hours a day, take cold showers, and perform a "daily act to honor" their master.

NXIVM put out a statement at the time saying: "The allegations relayed in the story are built upon sources, some of which are under criminal investigation or already indicted, who act as a coordinated group."

Where is Allison Mack now?

On June 30, 2021, Mack was sentenced to three years in prison at a Brooklyn federal court.

She will also be hit with a $20,000 fine for her role in the NXIVM case.

She wrote a lengthy letter to the court claiming to be remorseful, calling her involvement in the NXIVM sex cult the “biggest mistake and regret of her life” as she begged the judge for “no jail time.”