The Untold Truth Of Hayley Atwell

If one had to sum up the acting career of Hayley Atwell in a single word, that word would be diversity. Since graduating from London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2005, noted The Guardian, Atwell has appeared in costume drama (Brideshead Revisited), sci-fi (Doctor Who), historical drama (Pillars of the Earth), fairytale fantasy (Cinderella), legal drama (TV's Conviction), musical comedy (Blinded By the Light), and, of course, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing Agent Peggy Carter in five Marvel movies and her own ABC series, Agent Carter. 

She's also won acclaim on the stage, winning three nominations for Britain's prestigious Olivier Awards (the U.K. equivalent of America's Tonys). Among these: a best actress nomination for her role in the 2019 London production of Henrik Ibsen's Rosmersholm.

With the news of her casting in a mysterious action-adventure role alongside Tom Cruise in two upcoming Mission: Impossible movies, there's no doubt that Atwell's star is only continuing to rise. To learn more about this talented British actress, read on to discover the untold truth of Hayley Atwell. 

Hayley Atwell's childhood experiences were a bit outside the mainstream, thanks to her parents' New Age beliefs. This, noted the Evening Standard, led her to participate in a "personal empowerment ceremony" that involved walking on hot coals when she was just 9 years old. That New Age influence also seeped into her musical tastes. "I had that Sacred Spirit album. When everyone else was listening to garage [rock], I was listening to that and Enya," Atwell said.

Growing up in an environment so far outside the mainstream, the future MCU star unfortunately found herself bullied and mocked by classmates at school. "I'd see kids fighting in the playground and say things like, 'I'm sensing a lot of anger here,'" Atwell revealed in an interview with The Telegraph.

As she told the Standard, however, one of those bullies tried to get in touch with Atwell on Facebook after she'd become famous. "Are you kidding me? You made my life hell," Atwell declared, recalling a typical interaction from her school days. "It's like psychological warfare, the playground. She'd say: 'Your trainers [sneakers] are s**t.' And I'd be empathetic and say, 'I'm sensing hostilities. Is everything OK at home?'"

Joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought Hayley Atwell a whole new fanbase, attracted to her gutsy, empowered portrayal of Agent Peggy Carter. One of these fans led Atwell to a life-changing epiphany.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Atwell opened up about Georgina Callander, a member of the Agent Carter fan club who was killed during the 2017 terrorist bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. "My life took on a different kind of focus at that point," Atwell admitted. "It really does kind of give meaning to my work." Atwell also shared a photo of herself posing with Callander on Instagram, along with a touching tribute: "Thinking of her family and friends today and the precious life so tragically lost."

Atwell was further touched, she told Decider, when other members of the fan club travelled from all over the world to attend Callander's funeral. Atwell expressed her admiration for "a group of girls who were able to come together and develop a strong friendship network, and then experience such devastation and such horror, and yet because of their friendship group be able to comfort each other and comfort Georgina's family. It's really moving to me."

There's one significant aspect of Hayley Atwell's anatomy — well, technically two — that have always set her apart from some of her more waif-life Hollywood peers. "I know I've got curves and big boobs and I'm never, ever going to complain about that," she told The Telegraph. 

As Atwell recalled in an interview with the Evening Standard, once puberty hit and her breasts grew larger, she "started to get attention from boys." Yet at the same time, the future actress was also drawn to such traditionally masculine pursuits as rugby and wrestling. "They called me Hulk Hayley back then. I used to wrestle with the boys," she continued. 

Despite her curvy figure, Atwell told the Evening Standard, "I've always felt quite genderless. Which is odd, because I have big boobs." And in that same interview with The Telegraph, she explained her take on the perception that she's markedly more voluptuous than other actresses. "Do you know what? I don't think I'm curvaceous," Atwell declared. "It's simply that most other actresses are really, stupidly tiny. When I meet some of them, I can't believe it."

Fans of Hayley Atwell who follow her visits to TV talk shows can attest that she's often asked to show off one very impressive — and very strange — talent. Before demonstrating that ability on Britain's The Jonathan Ross Show, Atwell prefaced it by admitting, "It's quite weird, and I'll look like a blowfish when I do it."

With that, Atwell clamped her lips together, and blew out her cheeks like famed trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie while a squeaky voice emanated from within. "I'm stuck inside, I can't get out!" yelled a muffled voice from inside Atwell's closed mouth. The titular host joked in response, "Why didn't you do the whole interview like that? That would have been incredible!" 

Among the many other shows on which Atwell has demonstrated her unique gift was q on Canada's CBC Radio. Host Tom Power described what he had just witnessed as "unbelievable," saying, "That's the greatest thing I've ever seen in my life. We're gonna cancel the show after this, because it's not gonna get any better than that." Atwell also managed to crack up Christopher Robin co-star Ewan McGregor during a press junket with her ventriloquist trick. "That is so peculiar," McGregor observed while laughing.

There are certain actors and actresses in Hollywood known to be pranksters. George Clooney, for example, has pulled off some doozies in his day. As it turns out, Hayley Atwell is no slouch in the prank department, judging from one she described during an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden. 

As Atwell explained, she was filming an episode of Agent Cooper with Dominic Cooper, who plays the young version of Howard Stark — a.k.a. father of Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark — in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "He, as you know, is a very gorgeous, charismatic, sexy, cool man," Atwell said. "There was a picture that was taken of us upside down after a stunt, and I zoomed in on Dominic's face, and he went, 'You need to delete that immediately!' And I said, 'Yes, I will — as soon as I have texted it to the rest of the cast.' So, I did." She then had the far-from-flattering photo printed on t-shirts worn by the entire cast and crew.

Not content with a mere t-shirt, Atwell also placed the image on a phone case — and, as a special gift for James Corden (Cooper's close friend and onetime roommate, who was hugely amused by Atwell's prank) — a full-sized blanket boasting the embarrassing image. They proudly displayed this to viewers as Corden quipped, "We can all snuggle under Dominic's terrible face!"

In 2020, Hayley Atwell was cast in Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible franchise, set to appear in both the seventh and eighth movies. While details about her character were kept tightly under wraps, a few beans were spilled when she and M:I 7 director Christopher McQuarrie appeared on the Light the Fuse podcast.

According to Collider, Atwell shared a few clues about her character. "There's ambiguity ... the interesting thing we're exploring is her resistance to a situation she finds herself in," she explained. "How she starts off, where she becomes. The journey of what she comes into and what is asked of her and potentially where she ends up."

Meanwhile, McQuarrie was adamant that Atwell's character not "be a repeat of any character that's come before" in the franchise, describing the role as "a destructive force of nature." He also hinted that the part is a very physical one, revealing that Atwell landed the gig after a "two-hour stunt audition." Praising her "frightening talent with a knife," McQuarrie promised that moviegoers would see "a very different side of Hayley" in the M:I franchise.

Hayley Atwell has been acting professionally for well over a decade, with IMDb listing her first screen role as a 2005 TV movie. Since then, she's appeared in numerous films and TV series, most notably including her work with Marvel. With all those screen credits under her belt, it would be easy to assume that the in-demand actress would be ridiculously wealthy, especially after signing on to two Mission: Impossible movies.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, however, Atwell isn't as rich as some of her fans may imagine. In fact, the site estimates her net worth to be just $3 million — enough to live more than comfortably, to be sure. However, it's certainly not the kind of money that people associate with the likes of her M:I co-star Tom Cruise, whose own net worth is estimated to be a whopping $600 million, or Captain America's Chris Evans, who reportedly boasts $80 million to his name.

Then again, Atwell's lower net worth shouldn't be all that shocking, given that she's been quite open about her refusal to take on certain roles, such as "the supportive girlfriend" or "the sexy b**ch," if she thinks they won't be fulfilling. "I'd rather earn next to no money by doing a play," Atwell once told Vulture. "I don't want to box myself in, but I want to be able to stand by the choices that I made."