NEWSTom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible' Costar Hayley Atwell 'Upset' About 'Weird' Romance Rumors: 'Feels a Little Dirty'
July 10 2023, Published 11:15 a.m. ET
Hayley Atwell spoke out about being romantically linked to her Mission: Impossible costar Tom Cruise.
During a new interview, the brunette beauty, 41, insisted she views Cruise, 61, and Mission: Impossible's director, Chris McQuarrie, as "sort of two uncles."
“I would be like, ‘Ooh, there’s some weird rumors, and it feels base, it feels a little dirty, it feels grubby, it’s not what I’m about,’” she explained to a news outlet. “Why are things being assumed or projected onto me about my relationship with my work colleague and boss?”
As a result, Atwell found the whole thing "upsetting" because “it’s involving people in my actual life, my personal life, who have to be on the receiving end of that. It becomes invasive.”
Atwell, who is engaged to Ned Wolfgang Kelly, even got some advice from the action star, who, according to her, "carries his fame like a loose garment," about how she should handle the whole ordeal.
“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,'" she recalled.
As OK! previously reported, Cruise is single and ready to mingle. So much so, he was recently caught flirting with Shakira, who split from Gerard Piqué in June 2022.
"He came away convinced they had a real connection they needed to build on," an insider noted.
However, the "Hips Don't Lie" vocalist didn't seem interested in finding out if there was something more between them.
"She doesn't want to embarrass or upset him, but there's no attraction or romance on her part — she was just being friendly," the source said. "She's flattered but not interested."
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Meanwhile, Cruise is hopeful he will fall in love again. "Tom would love to meet that someone special," another insider shared. "He emphatically believes the right girl is out there."
The Independent spoke with Atwell.
