'Weird' Tom Cruise Dating Rumors Made Hayley Atwell Feel 'Dirty'

How does it feel to be on the receiving end of completely wild, baseless dating rumors? Hayley Atwell did NOT like it!

Back in 2020 when the Agent Carter star first started filming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 in London, she became one of the many women who were rumored to be dating co-star Tom Cruise. Various sources claimed the two hit it off on set and were suddenly an item. For instance a source told The Sun:

“Tom and Hayley hit it off from day one. Lockdown, and all the difficulties that came with it, brought them even closer and they’ve become fairly inseparable. They’ve been meeting up after hours, and she’s been to his London pad. They get on brilliantly, and both seem very happy.”

We never really bought it — it’s not like the actors gave any reason to suspect anything. No PDA, no hanging out off-set, no sus social media posts. It’s just what happens with Tom Cruise.

Hayley never responded to any of the talk — though she made it pretty clear what was really going on earlier this year when she got engaged to boyfriend Ned Wolfgang Kelly. But now that M:I:7 is finally coming out, she’s opening up about being grist ofr the rumor mill. She told The Independent over the weekend she sees Tom and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie (who are both a couple decades older than she is) as “sort of two uncles” — not dating material.

She called the rumors “weird” and said it made her feel “dirty” and “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?”

It’s a good point. It’s easy to forget when thinking about co-stars that in this case, Tom is producing the movie — meaning he’s pretty much her boss! It’s not just speculation about her love life, it’s calling her professionalism into question!

Not only that, the rumor was “upsetting” because “it’s involving people in my actual life, my personal life, who have to be on the receiving end of that.” Yeah, we’re guessing her IRL BF didn’t like it one bit.

But Tom, who has of course been the subject of these kinds of rumors for decades, helped his co-star through it:

“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.'”

Very wise!

What do YOU think? Are these kinds of relationship rumors, with no evidence at all, “weird” and hurtful??

[Image via Phil Lewis/MEGA/WENN/Paramount/YouTube.]