Can co-stars ever be co-stars anymore? Tom Cruise and Ana de Armas are certainly putting the theory to the test. Romance rumours first surfaced in February when they were spotted having dinner together in London but were swiftly shut down. This week they’ve been spotted in London again and, unsurprisingly, the rumours are back with them.

The pair touched down in Cruise’s helicopter after travelling from Madrid, and de Armas’s two dogs, Elvis and Salsa, were also in attendance. Apparently, they are planning on working together on an upcoming project, but the details of which have not been specified. Given that Cruise is 62 and de Armas is 36, their age gap is very ‘Hollywood coded’, so it’s no wonder people are making assumptions – even if that’s all they are. Let’s be honest, if they are not dating in real life, it’s very possible that they will be playing romantic leads anyway.

In February, Cruise and de Armas were seen out for dinner with their agents and the director Doug Liman ‘discussing potential collaborations down the line’. A source told People that they ‘appeared to have no romantic connection, just friends’. While that statement put a pin in the idea that they might be dating at the time, it doesn’t explain their recent trip to Madrid, or the fact de Armas is travelling in Cruise’s helicopter with her dogs.

Let’s consider what we do know. They both have busy summers ahead – Cruise is gearing up to promote the final instalment of his most notable franchise, Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which is out on 23 May, while de Armas is set to star in the next John Wick film, Ballerina, in June.

Cruise has also recently signed on to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s first English-language film since The Revenant, which is out in 2026. It’s set to follow ‘the most powerful man in the world’ as he ‘embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s saviour before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything’.

Meanwhile, de Armas’s name is being thrown around as the potential lead for the Netflix adaptation of Taylor Jenkin Reid’s 2017 novel, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which is expected sometime after 2026. The actress, who has made a name for herself in action films, didn’t not confirm the rumours during a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight. ‘I think one of the things I love about acting and my career is to be able to do everything,’ she said. ‘You have to try all the things you can. You have to try all the things you can. You can’t just always eat the same thing.’

So their diaries are looking busy, but what about their personal lives? Well, speaking of trips to Madrid, days after de Armas and Cruise were first spotted having dinner in London, de Armas was pictured in the Spanish city holding hands with her rumoured boyfriend Manuel Anido Cuesta. She has been tied to the Cuban lawyer since November, and they have been pictured kissing and holding hands on several occasions. Those Cruise rumours are losing their flare…

While de Armas has not publicly confirmed her relationship with Anido Cuesta, it is unlikely that she ever will, having vowed to keep her love life private after her highly publicised 2020 romance with Ben Affleck. One that culminated in Affleck being papped throwing a life size cardboard cutout of de Armas in the bin after their breakup. So, who can blame her? Speaking to Elle in July 2022, the actress described the Affleck debacle as ‘horrible’ and ‘one of the reasons I left LA’. She explained that the invasive paparazzi culture confirmed that ‘this is not the place for me’ and said ‘there’s no escape. There’s no way out’.

As for Cruise, he was last tied to Russian socialite Elsina Khayrova, but they reportedly parted ways in early 2024. Apparently, the former couple met at one of Cruise’s penthouse parties in London’s Hyde Park in 2023 and ‘immediately hit it off’, but the relationship quickly ‘ran its course’. Prior to this, he was rumoured to be dating his Mission Impossible co-star Hayley Atwell in 2020, but they parted ways in 2022.

Most famously, the Top Gun star was married to actress Mimi Rogers between 1987 and 1990, Nicole Kidman between 1990 and 2001, with whom he shares two children, and Katie Holmes between 2006 and 2012, with whom he shares one daughter.

So, when you add together the People source confirming that there is nothing romantic going on between them, the fact de Armas almost definitely has a boyfriend, and the news that they are planning to work together on a future project, it doesn’t seem like there is much more to those airport pictures after all. Can an actress not catch a lift in her future co-star’s private helicopter in peace anymore? Honestly.