Hayley Atwell says rumors she was dating Tom Cruise were 'upsetting'

Whilst there are many women who would probably love to be romantically linked to Tom Cruise, his Mission Impossible co-star Hayley Atwell isn't one of them.

The 41-year-old actor has spoken out about the dating rumours that circulated around the two of them and how it impacted her personal life.

Atwell, who is best known for her role as Peggy Carter in MCU, plays Grace in the latest entry to the Mission Impossible franchise, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning.

In the film, Grace is a burglar and ally to Cruise's Ethan Hunt.

The movie wrapped filming in 2021 after a brief production halt in February 2020 due to the pandemic, but rumours soon began to spread about Cruise and Atwell's relationship off-set.

Speaking to The Independent on Saturday (8 July), the British actor has since addressed the gossip head on.

Instagram/@wellhayley

Atwell said: "I would be like, 'Ooh, there's some weird rumours, and it feels base, it feels a little dirty, it feels grubby, it's not what I'm about.'

"Why are things being assumed or projected onto me about my relationship with my work colleague and boss?"

She insists that she sees Cruise, as well as the film's director Christopher McQuarrie, as 'uncles' and said that the rumours were 'upsetting' as they affected those in her personal life.

She explained: "It's involving people in my actual life, my personal life, who have to be on the receiving end of that. It becomes invasive."

Given that Atwell is engaged to songwriter/composer Ned Wolfgang Kelly, it's very understandable why these rumours would be hurtful.

Upon speaking to Cruise - who is no stranger to tabloid scandals himself- she was given some advice on how to handle the speculation.

The Captain America star said: "When I've talked to him about it, he'd be like, 'You know exactly who you are. You know what you're about. And that is the only thing that matters.

"'It doesn't matter what people think of you, if you are in integrity with yourself, if you know what your value system is'."

Wise words.

And Atwell has had nothing but kind things to say about her co-star.

Paramount

She said: "He’s nice; he’s charming; he’s charismatic; he knows how to make people feel good about themselves.

"So that’s just a tactic for total manipulation, because he’s probably just an egocentric. Or whatever bulls*** people want to make up about people.

"But over time, you’re just watching him, going: he really works hard, he really cares, he’s really interested in people and wants to engage with them, and he believes in the power of cinema as much as he did when he was five years old."

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One is in cinemas now.