It's not uncommon for actors on a movie set to start dating. The fact is that a lot of people meet their significant others through work, and that's not all that different just because your work might involve you pretending to be other people in front of a camera. This makes some recent reports that Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell have started seeing each other, while filming Mission: Impossible 7 together, perfectly believable. But perhaps we should not believe them, because now there are other reports claiming that this is not the case.
The initial reports came via the The Sun in the U.K. where Mission: Impossible 7 is currently filming at WB's studio in Leavesden. That report dropped at the end of last week and claimed the two were seeing each other in secret. Though things were apparently not all that secret, since the paper claimed the pair were seen holding hands at a recent screening in London. On it's own, there's no reason to believe or not believe the report, it certainly could be true and both are as far as anybody knows, not seeing anybody else, so why not?
However, People is now reporting that the claim that the actors have paired up is simply untrue. People cites multiple sources who state the claim of a relationship is "not true at all" though the sources are anonymous, so it's impossible to gauge the full reliability of the sources.
It wouldn't exactly be shocking if the two actors were seeing each other socially. Mission: Impossible 7 is filming during a global pandemic, which Tom Cruise takes very seriously, and that likely means that the cast and crew are spending more time together than they otherwise would. Cruise reportedly rented a ship when the movie was filming in Norway so that everybody could stay together in a "bubble." Set photos of the new movie have also come out showing a scene where Tom Cruise and Haley Atwell are handcuffed together, so in this case the two actors have literally been spending a lot of time together.
There would certainly be reasons to keep a relationship secret if it was happening. One of them is that he's Tom Cruise, after all. One of the biggest movie stars in the world being in a serious relationship would certainly make headlines. He hasn't been in one (that we know of) since divorcing Katie Holmes, and Cruise likely would simply want to avoid the headlines.
At the same time, they're two consenting adults and if they want to date there's no reason they shouldn't be able to do so. At some point we'll likely find out for certain whether this relationship is, or was, ever really a thing. If it is, I certainly hope they're happy. We could all use a little happiness in this insane world.
