CONTRACT PLAYER

Will actress accept his‘ Arrangement’?

WHEN E! announced its drama series “The Arrangement,” comparisons to famous Scientologist Tom Cruise’s five-year marriage to Katie Holmes came faster than you can say “TomKat.” That’s because the series centers on Kyle West (Josh Henderson, “Dallas”), a movie star aligned with a self-help organization who offers ingenue actress Megan Morrison (Christine Evangelista, “Chicago Fire”) a $10 million marriage contract. Since then, everyone involved with the series has sworn up and down that it’s not inspired by the Cruise-Holmes relationship. “It’s just not,” Henderson, 35, says. “I understand the comparisons and the similarities and I’m OK with people saying ‘Is this about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes?’ ... If that brings attention to our show, I’m totally fine with it. But I feel like when people watch [the show], they’re going to ... be invested in our story, which is completely unique. Scientology is a religion. We’re a self-help organization. There are a lot of differences between Tom and Katie and Kyle and Megan — Tom’s older, Katie had a career.”

In “The Arrangement,” Kyle first meets Megan as she’s auditioning for the female lead in his summer blockbuster. Immediately infatuated, he whisks her off on a whirlwind first date that starts at a taco stand and ends in Mexico via a private jet. The fairy tale takes a more calculated turn, however, when Megan is presented with the contract by Kyle’s best/ friend mentor, Terence Anderson (Michael Vartan, “Alias”), who runs the secretive organization, Institute of The Higher Mind.

“Kyle attributes all of his success to Terence and the Institute; he really does believe it helped him work out his inner demons and really turn into a better person,” Henderson says. “[Terence] has a lot riding on Kyle, who’s the face of the Institute. When we meet Kyle, he’s coming out of a really bad public breakup. It wasn’t good for Kyle’s mentality [and] it’s not good for the Institute. Now he’s with another girl and Terence … it worries him.”

Terence’s controlling nature starts to rear its head when the new couple steps out at the Venice Film Festival in Episode 2, where they’re hounded by paparazzi. Henderson (thankfully, he says), doesn’t face the same level of public visibility as his character (though they’re both from Oklahoma and had humble upbringings that fuel their careers.

They even share the same weird talent, jam skating —a mix of hip-hop dancing and roller skating — which “The Arrangement” writers put into the script when Henderson told them he mastered the skill as a teen.

One noticeable difference? Henderson, who is single, has no interest in an “arrangement” of his own. “I don’t care if it was $1 billion, I wouldn’t do it,” he says. “A relationship or love is a big deal for me, and the money will always come, hopefully.”