TOM’S SECRET LIFE
WITH A NEW LADY LOVE, THE ACTOR HAS ADOPTED A MORE LOW KEY EXISTENCE ACROSS THE POND
He may be one of the highest paid and most powerful actors in Hollywood, but Tom Cruise’s days of being an untouchable A-lister have unexpectedly taken a more down-to-earth turn. The 59-year-old has reportedly fallen in love with his life in England since swapping the glamour of Tinseltown for a more toned down existence in Kent, with the action star reportedly telling friends he now plans to stay for the foreseeable future.
“The transformation has been astonishing,” an insider told UK newspaper The Sun. “He just seems to have totally changed his mindset lately. Everything is quite low-key, at least by his A-list standards, and he just seems to love being in Britain.”
The once notoriously reclusive star shocked fans recently, after he was spotted enjoying a curry at a local Birmingham Indian restaurant. Cruise stopped to take a selfie with the eatery’s owners before greeting fans while striding through a nearby shopping centre. “There’s nothing he isn’t up for doing,” the source shared. “It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him just walking around his local supermarket, the way things are going.”
The change has no doubt been helped by Cruise’s rumoured romance with his glamorous co-star, Hayley Atwell, 39, who insiders say has “captivated” and “totally changed” the actor. “Everyone thinks Hayley might be a big factor in the change, but only [Cruise] knows what is driving him to want to stay so long,” explained the Sun source. “It’s like he’s an honorary Brit.”
The pair met on the set of Mission: Impossible 7 last year and have quickly become inseparable, often seen sharing a laugh and hanging out in between takes. “Tom and Hayley hit it off from day one,” an insider told The Daily Mail earlier this year. “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.”
Their recent public outing – Atwell joined Cruise in the All England Club’s Royal Box at Wimbledon in July – also caused quite the stir, with the actor having kept his love-life out of the spotlight since splitting from Katie Holmes in 2012. “Don’t bet against [Tom and Hayley] making things official once filming wraps,” a film insider told The Sun of the smitten pair.
All things considered, it’s a marked shift from Cruise’s former life, where the actor more often than not hid behind high walls in secure compounds and kept his personal affairs shrouded in secrecy. And insiders say a step away from Scientology might also be the cause, with it emerging earlier this year that Cruise had become increasingly distant from the controversial organisation and hasn’t been seen at its UK headquarters since his arrival in England.
“He’s just not as full-on as he used to be,” Scientology expert Tony Ortega revealed to Us Weekly recently. “Yelling Scientology’s name from the rooftops did more harm than good, so he’s just doing things more quietly these days.”
Whether it be England, love or religion that’s behind this new Cruise, insiders say the star is happier than he’s ever been. “He’s a changed man,” adds the source.
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