Hayley Atwell is addressing the romance rumors that have surrounded her and Tom Cruise as they promote their film “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One.”
The actors share the screen in the upcoming action film, out July 12, and recently there has been speculation about their relationship off camera.
Atwell responded to the gossip and opened up about her friendship with the “Top Gun: Maverick” actor in an interview with The Independent published on July 8.
During the sit-down, she mentioned that she heard rumors about her having secret flings with Cruise and “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” director Christopher McQuarrie, also known as McQ.
But she says her relationships with her collaborators are strictly platonic. The 41-year-old actor told the British newspaper that she views Cruise, 61, and McQuarrie, 54, as “sort of two uncles.”
Speaking directly about the gossip involving her co-star and director, Atwell said, “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 continued, “Why are things being assumed or projected onto me about my relationship with my work colleague and boss?”
The “Marvel’s Agent Carter” star called the rumors “upsetting,” pointing out that comments about her love life impact her personal relationships.
“It’s involving people in my actual life, my personal life, who have to be on the receiving end of that,” she explained. “It becomes invasive.”
Atwell has been navigating life in the public eye since her breakout role in “Captain America: The First Avenger” in 2011. She said she has learned to be “more mindful” when giving statements to avoid assumptions about her private life.
She told The Independent that she decided to have a conversation with Cruise about the rumors swirling around their relationship, to which the “Jerry Maguire” star gave Atwell stellar advice.
She recounted that he told her, “‘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.’”
The Marvel star recalled watching classic movies like “Paper Moon” and “Broadcast News” with Cruise and McQuarrie after landing the role of Grace in “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One.”
Cruise and McQuarrie “love seeing women thrive and be in their own power,” she said. “So if I ever tried to play small or flirtatious, or play damsel, they would probably be like, ‘What are you doing? That’s not you!’”
The actress will appear alongside Cruise, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Cary Elwes and Simon Pegg in the franchise’s next installment.
Atwell is already being praised for her role in the movie. In his first reaction to a screening of the seventh “Mission: Impossible,” Screen Rant’s Joe Deckelmeier tweeted that Atwell, “STEALS every scene she’s in.”