For years, there were rumors about Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell. Rumors that they were dating, rumors that they spent a lot of time together filming Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, rumors that they broke up after things went south. While I believed that Hayley and Tom could be doing a showmance for movie-promotion and just general professional reasons, I never believed that they were actually dating or having a real romance. Well, as Hayley promoted this MI movie, she’s talking about those rumors and more. She also confirmed to the Independent that she is engaged… to Ned Wolfgang Kelly, a songwriter/composer. She wore her engagement ring during the interview. Some highlights:

The truth about the Tom Cruise rumors: The truth, Atwell tells me, is that she looked on Cruise and Mission’s director, Chris McQuarrie (or “McQ”), as “sort of two uncles”. And who doesn’t love seeking advice from their uncle about the fact that the world thinks you’re courting? “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,’” she explains. “Why are things being assumed or projected onto me about my relationship with my work colleague and boss?” Atwell found it “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.”

Tom’s reaction to the romance rumors: But Cruise, who Atwell says “carries his fame like a loose garment”, knew exactly what to say. “When I’ve talked to him about it, he’d be like” – here she turns to me intensely and looks directly into my eyes – “‘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.”

What she really thinks of Tom Cruise: “I truly feel you could meet him and go” – here she affects a voice of dry cynicism – “‘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.’” She rolls her eyes. “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.” Going into the franchise, she says, he made her feel “safe”.

[From The Independent]

Yeah… so that’s it. I believe her, I guess. I believe that they didn’t have a romance or showmance, but even despite her protests now, I do think she probably sort of enjoyed the buzz. I mean, there was gossip about Tom and Hayley for years and neither of them addressed it before now. Now, I also think it’s funny that she called Tom something akin to an “uncle.” Granted, age-wise, that is what he would be – she’s 41, he’s 61. But Hayley calling him an uncle just highlights the age difference. Anyway, I think Tom has basically given up on romance or whatever – these days, he’s just all about the work, all about the grind.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.