Hayley Atwell Reveals Mission Impossible Co-Star Tom Cruise's Insightful Advice to Help Her Overcome Social Anxiety: 'Try Doing...'

Tom Cruise reportedly helped Hayley Atwell overcome her social anxiety with valuable advice. Keep reading to find out what the Mission: Impossible actress shared!

Written by Ipshita Chakraborty , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Mar 29, 2025 | 06:32 PM GMT | 14.1K

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Hayley Atwell recently discussed useful advice she learned from Tom Cruise about handling social anxiety. Atwell joined Cruise on the Mission Impossible franchise in 2023.

The Heartstopper actress revealed how Cruise had urged her to look the monster in the eye and face it head-on instead of backing away. In the March 25 episode of the Reign With Josh Smith Podcast, she opened up about her struggles with social anxiety.

At the interview, Atwell defined social anxiety as this overbearing feeling that sometimes occurs in new places, workplaces, or among people. She said, "If you walk into a room and you feel the anxieties coming, and it makes me want to retreat into myself, and I start to overthink..."

She explained how anxiety gets her to pull back, ruminate, and obsess over self-doubts. It was during these instances, she disclosed, that Cruise proposed an alternative.

Rather than internalizing fear, Cruise instructed Atwell to look externally and locate where she was experiencing discomfort. He told her to scan the room, find what could be prompting her insecurity, and ask if someone or some circumstance was triggering her discomfort.

Atwell said, "And [Cruise] said, 'Try doing the opposite... Try to look out, look around the room, and go, 'Where is it? Where is the thing that I have attached onto my insecurity? Is it that person over there that reminds me of my school bully? Is it that person over there that didn't give me a job once? That person over there that I think was mean to me once'? adding, "Where does it live outside of me, and where do I feel like the source of it might be coming from?"

By actually looking at the fear, he said, it could be defined, known, and eventually dispelled. Atwell attributed Cruise's approach to assisting her in identifying the source of her fears and finding practical solutions to overcome them.

Atwell recounted, "[Cruise] was just like, 'If you're scared of something, keep looking at it. Try not to close your eyes or turn away; just keep looking at it.' It will often give you information about what to do to overcome it."

She explained that by facing her fears head-on, they slowly lose their grip—less a dark specter looming in the shadows and more a surmountable obstacle.

"If I'm scared of something, if I keep looking at it long enough, it tends to not sort of be the monster under the bed anymore," she said.

This attitude, Hayley Atwell continued, has enabled her to face loneliness, jealousy, or intimidation straight on.