Mission: Impossible 7 - Are Tom Cruise And Hayley Atwell Friends In Real Life?

It didn't take long into the run-up to "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" for rumors to start circulating that Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise were romantically involved. However, Atwell has clarified on several occasions that the two have a completely platonic friendship.

In an interview with Heart Evenings, Atwell explained her distaste for the rumors. "When those rumors came out, I was like, 'Oh, how reductive that stories have been made up because they see a woman who has worked hard to develop a chemistry and a rapport and a work ethic that has met the intensity of someone like Tom and has found a place beside him. And, therefore, let's reduce it immediately to assuming that it was running on a romantic agenda,'" she said.

Atwell has also spoken of her appreciation for the friendships she has built with Cruise and the rest of the film's cast and crew. "What I feel is the truly extraordinary power of platonic love, which seems to be sometimes under-represented," she told Country & Town House. "And my love for Tom, my love for [Chris] McQuarrie, my love for the process of this [Mission], and also the people who they keep very close to them and who are very present on set, has a wholesomeness to it."