Last Saturday, Ana de Armas and Tom Cruise were on something of a mission impossible.
The two were trying to covertly move through London after attending David Beckham’s 50th birthday at the Michelin-starred restaurant Core in tony Notting Hill. It wasn’t exactly a successful endeavor.
Hollywood’s biggest action movie star, 62, and the Cuban actress, 37, were snapped by paparazzi in the backseat of a black SUV leaving the party.
In one photograph, Cruise looks at the camera and nonchalantly flashes his famous pearly whites, while de Armas ducks down so that her face can’t be seen.
The picture is the latest incident involving the stars to set tongues wagging and generate speculation about a possible romance.
They “had a blast” at the event, “they came together and had a great night and clearly enjoy hanging out,” a fellow partygoer at the Beckham birthday bash told Page Six. “But I couldn’t say any more than that … I’ve no proof it’s romantic.”
The source added that Cruise was “so cool, so nice to everyone” at the high-wattage soiree, which was also attended by Guy Ritchie, Eva Longoria and Gordon Ramsay. “He’s a proper movie star,” they added.
Whatever they are or aren’t, it’s sure to be an action-packed summer for them both.
Cruise stars in “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”— the franchise’s eighth installment, out May 23. De Armas will be at the multiplex soon after, starring as a ballerina assassin in “From the World of John Wick: Ballerina” — the fifth “John Wick” movie, out June 6.
A source who worked with De Armas on “Ballerina” told Page Six their public sightings may be more professional than personal.
“I’m sure if they’re friends he’s mentored her. I’m sure she’s called him for advice,” the source told Page Six. “I’m sure they conversed on [things like] ‘this is how the stunt guys do it.’ I’m sure he gives her a lot of tips — he’s a legend in the stunt world.”
She’s previously hinted at her admiration for Cruise’s stunt skills.
“[I’m] not at a Tom Cruise level yet,” De Armas said of performing her own stunts, in a USA Today story in 2023. “But I can appreciate what he does 100% now, and I totally get why he does it. He’s so mind blowing.”
De Armas’s big breakout role was playing a kindhearted caretaker in the 2019 whodunit “Knives Out,” but, increasingly, she’s making a name for herself as a sexy action star.
For the 2021 James Bond film, “No Time to Die,” she teamed back up with her “Knives Out” co-star Daniel Craig to play a cunning CIA agent named Paloma.
The source who worked with de Armas on “Ballerina” told Page Six that the star is pragmatic on set and really focused on mastering choreography for intense fight scenes.
“She’s awesome. She works hard. She’s very well thought out. She’ll call you on your BS. She always double checks. Why are we doing this? How does it really work in real life? She’s very inquisitive about everything we’re doing,” they said. “She’s really fun. She wants to do a good job. She does a lot of her own fights.”
De Armas and Cruise first fueled dating rumors in February when they were seen out to dinner in London around Valentine’s Day.
A source told People at the time they were connecting about “potential collaborations down the line.”
Then, in late April, the pair had a “Top Gun” moment, when they went on a helicopter ride piloted by Cruise.
A day later, on de Armas’ 37th birthday, they were spotted strolling through a London park, looking cheerful as they casually chatted.
Reps for De Armas and Cruise did not respond to Page Six requests for comment.
A Hollywood insider told Page Six that their dating could make sense.
“It’s very hard to be in Tom Cruise’s world – it’s interesting that typically the actress is just on the rise or has some sort of notoriety,” they said.
He has “no friends of his own” and is “rather low key,” a fashion industry insider told The Post.
De Armas grew up in Santa Cruz del Norte, a small town in Cuba, and later attended theater school in Havana. In 2006, at age 16, she landed her first film role in the Cuban drama “Una rosa de Francia.”
De Armas left Cuba for Spain at age 18, moving to Madrid where she acted in Spanish-language TV series and films.
“My grandparents were Spanish, so I had a dual passport — it was the only way I had to get out,” she told Vanity Fair in 2016.
In 2011, she married Spanish actor Marc Clotet in Costa Brava. They divorced two years later, and de Armas moved to Los Angeles.
Her last high profile Hollywood relationship was with her “Deep Water” co-star Ben Affleck in 2021. The pair met on the set of the psychological thriller in 2019, started dating in March 2020 and split early the next year.
“He would not commit to having more kids. She is in her 30s. It was a deal-breaker,” a source told Page Six at the time.
Following the breakup, de Armas left LA and the “horrible” media attention — her words in an interview with Elle — for New York. Soon after, she began dating Tinder VP Paul Boukadakis, but things eventually fizzled out.
In 2023, she purchased a $7 million home in rural Woodstock, Vermont, where she now spends some of her time. According to a source who works at a luxury hotel in the area, “she keeps a very low profile.”
Golden boy Cruise has, of course, had numerous starry relationships. He has three children and has been married three times — to Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes, respectively
The Syracuse-born action hero also dated his “Vanilla Sky” co-star Penelope Cruz for three years, from 2001 to 2004, in the wake of his divorce from Kidman. He went on take up with Sofia Vergara before marrying Holmes in 2006.
In the past few years, he’s been rumored to be involved with everyone from Shakira to Vergara, once again.
Most recently, “The Mummy” star dated Russian socialite Elsina Khayrova, 37, in December 2023, after meeting through mutual friends in England, according to the Daily Mail.
The pair split in February 2024, Page Six reported, with a source telling the outlet: “There are no hard feelings between them and, for Tom, their relationship simply ran its course.”
When it comes to Cruise and de Armas, the Hollywood insider is doubtful that the two are romantically involved.
“It doesn’t feel like they’re dating,” they said.
But, they admitted, with Cruise you never know.
“He’s very protective. He’s very private,” the Hollywood insider said. “You never hear a word about anything from anyone.”
The post What’s really going on with Tom Cruise and Ana de Armas? Source says they’re having fun — but ‘no proof it’s romantic’ appeared first on Page Six.
