Hayley Atwell had a hot date to the Mission: Impossible premiere: her mum. In fact, the whole four-year process of making the seventh instalment, Dead Reckoning Part One, was a “family affair”. Even Atwell’s dogs were frequently on set. “It’s very special in that regard,” the newcomer to the franchise tells me, revealing that it wasn’t just her grandmother who got a surprise helicopter ride from Tom Cruise (as per recent headlines) but her mum, too. So, what do I have to do to get a helicopter ride from Tom Cruise? “It’s only a matter of time!” Atwell jokes. “Hang out with us more, and you will!”
That would be fun! Except, regrettably, I don’t think it’s going to happen. Because Hayley Atwell is Hollywood famous now. One sign of that: trying to speak to her for more than 20 minutes has become a process more complicated than childbirth. Another sign: the persistent rumours that she and Cruise have had some hot dates of their own. But 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.”
