He’s the most sought-after bachelor in Hollywood and a top movie star. She’s a stunning Cuban actress and a relatively lesser-known talent, 25 years younger than him.

Tom Cruise, 62, and Ana de Armas, 37, began their unexpected relationship that has since blossomed into a whirlwind romance across the globe. However, the couple seems to be encountering challenges just a few months into their new relationship.

The major roadblock? Their opposing beliefs.

It’s common knowledge in Hollywood that top-tier actor Cruise, known for his roles in major blockbusters like Top Gun and Mission: Impossible, has reached the pinnacle within the Church of Scientology and remains an active participant in this oft-debated organization.

De Armas, on the other hand, was raised in a devout Catholic family back home in Cuba, learning Christian values that she keeps to this day.

That said, from an intimate dinner date on Valentine’s Day this year, to jet setting between London and Madrid, and even narrowly escaping swarms of paparazzi outside David Beckham’s 50th birthday bash on Saturday, the couple are clearly willing to give their budding romance a chance.

But, if they continue to sweep the religion issue under the rug, it will only be a matter of time before her friends and family decide to intervene, sources say.

‘Ana is enamored by Tom but her friends are torn, and her family have concerns too,’ an insider exclusively told the Daily Mail, before stressing: ‘His Scientologist beliefs are not a deal breaker for Ana. She knows her family wouldn’t approve, but she is her own woman.’

Before she made it big as a Bond girl, the 37-year-old actress was desperate to leave her family’s tatty breeze-block apartment building on a rubble-strewn street in Cuba.

Her mother, also named Ana, worked in human resources while her father, Ramon, had various jobs as a bank manager, teacher, school principal, and deputy mayor of a town.

As a teenager, de Armas fled the humble flat in the distillery town of Santa Cruz del Norte – an hour’s drive east of the capital, Havana – to follow her seemingly impossible dream of escaping Cuba’s suffering economy through acting.

De Armas enrolled at the Escuela Nacional de Teatro, the national theatre school, in 2002 when she was just 14. But she quit before completing the course after landing her first acting role in a Spanish television series, El Internado.

Leaving Cuba and moving to Madrid aged 18, she lived with her Spanish grandparents.

‘My grandparents were Spanish, so I had a dual passport – it was the only way I had to get out,’ she recalled to Vanity Fair in 2016. 

She eventually made her moive debut in a 2006 Spanish film, Una rosa de Francia, before making the successful crossover to Hollywood with a turn in films like 2015’s Knock Knock and 2017’s Blade Runner 2049.

However, the 2019 whodunnit film Knives Out marked her breakout role, ultimately opening the door for a slew of box office hits including No Time to Die and Blonde – the latter of which earned her a best actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe.

Such an impressive resume has surely sparked a sense of pride for her otherwise humble family back home in Cuba. 

She remains close to her loved ones today; her mother still lives in Cuba while her father died in early 2020. 

De Armas also has an artist brother, Javier, who now lives in New York.

Despite her laundry list of arguably far more controversial exes (she received massive backlash for her recent relationship with Manuel Anido Cuesta, the stepson of Cuba’s president), Cruise and his unconventional beliefs have reportedly left Armas concerned that her family won’t accept him.

‘Ana was raised in a devout Catholic Church in Cuba and her family are religious,’ the source continued. ‘She knows that her family would not accept Tom because of his beliefs. Ana and Tom have discussed this.’

After sharing a Valentine’s Day meal together earlier this year, their relationship has moved fast.

In April, Cruise whisked her away to Madrid. 

Last weekend, they were spotted disembarking from Cruise’s helicopter at an airport in London in exclusive photos obtained by the Daily Mail.

The pair later danced the night away at Beckham’s star-studded 50th birthday bash at Notting Hill’s Core restaurant on Saturday night.

Though the couple made an effort to hide their relationship, with Cruise arriving solo, they were seen leaving the venue together in the early hours shielded by umbrellas before ducking behind the car seats as they sat together in the back of a vehicle.

‘They are spending so much of their time together and Tom has feelings for her. She is Tom’s type,’ our source added.

They look set to spend even more time together later this month, with the Daily Mail previously revealing  Cruise’s plans to take the starlet as his date to the 78th Cannes Film Festival.

His new movie Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is slated for a premiere on May 14 at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, but it is not yet clear if they will walk the red carpet together.

As for the couple’s plans for the future, their quarter-century age gap may prove to be an even bigger roadblock for the pair than just their clashing religious beliefs.

When the actress called it quits with ex-boyfriend and Ben Affleck back in 2021, a source told Page Six that de Armas had dumped the father-of-three because ‘he would not commit to having more kids’ – something she considers to be a dealbreaker.

So if she’s still looking to start a family, she might not find what she’s after with 62-year-old father-of-three Cruise. 

After all, he’s known for his complicated relationship with his estranged daughter Suri, 19, who he shares with ex-wife Katie Holmes.

Suri was just six years old when her parents’ marriage fell apart in 2012. 

Before Holmes, Cruise was previously married to actress Mimi Rogers from 1987 to 1990, before tying the knot with Nicole Kidman that same year. They split in 2001.

There was much fevered fascination over the role that Cruise’s devotion to Scientology had played in the collapse of his marriage to Holmes.

However, those questions were answered when Holmes was awarded sole custody of their daughter… and made it glaringly apparent that she had no plans to allow Suri to be caught up in the world of Scientology.

Since then, the movie star has been all but exiled from his youngest child’s life for over a decade.

Last year, the teen dropped her estranged father’s famous surname and adopted the moniker Suri Noelle, a tribute to her mother’s middle name.

Indeed, Tom’s controversial past would be enough to make any potential lover put up the guardrails.

But not de Armas. As our insider revealed, those closest to her ‘would not be surprised if she took up Scientology’ if it meant continuing the relationship.