Tom Cruise Raves About 'Very Talented' Ana de Armas amid Relationship Rumors (Exclusive)

First Ana de Armas broke her silence on Tom Cruise amid relationship rumors swirling around them, and now the legend himself is opening up.

Cruise, 62, told "Extra's" Mona Kosar Abdi how much he admires de Armas, 37, while appearing at Sunday's NYC premiere of "Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning" at Lincoln Center.

“Very, very talented, great dramatic actress, comedic, tremendous ability, learns quickly," he said of the Oscar nominee, who is starring in "Ballerina," set for release in June, from the "John Wick" world.

He had high praise for Keanu Reeves, too, saying, "Look, I grew up with Keanu. You see 'Speed,' you see 'The Matrix' and also what they did with the 'Wick' franchise, and looking at that, you're saying, like, 'Look at how they captured the tone for that and how, that ability and charisma.'"

Tom continued, "Len, who directed that, Len Wiseman, who I know, I just, I admire that stuff, and Keanu, what he does with Wick, and what they've done with that franchise, very impressive. Very. I know what it takes to do that stuff, so I always call them, I'm like, 'Hat's off, man. Hat's off.' I dig those movies, you know, I really love it."

He even took time out to elevate Michael B. Jordan's latest hit movie "Sinners," saying, “Huge fan of his, huge fan of what he and [director Ryan] Coogler do together. Great film, great film. I recommend everyone go and see that picture many, many times. You know, you want to see it on the big screen. He's enormously talented, very charismatic, great actor. I look forward to, I'd love to make a movie with him.”

He added, “I've already put it out there... Years ago, when I first met him, I was like, 'This guy, I'd like to make movies with him.'"

As for his own movie, Cruise was celebrating one of the longest-running franchises in movie history. Is "Mission: Impossible" really over for good?

"Well, this is a culmination of the entire franchise. It's the very first film that I ever officially produced. Smiling, he went on, “I want audiences to see it, but it is called 'The Final Reckoning,' so... but audiences have to see it."

Mona asked Tom, “So, how do we say goodbye to Ethan Hunt?"

Cruise replied, “I don't want to give it away. You see it. We want audiences to go and have some fun with it.”

Mona asked Tom about all the action he personally injects into his movies, asking, “So what about the stunts? We see you here on the side of the plane, we see you underwater — was there a time where you're like, 'Okay, I mighta gone too far'?"

“Always!" was Tom's candid answer. "I always go too far, but I don't mind it. I always go to far. We're always like, 'Oh, my gosh.' You just take your hand and stick it out of the car going 140 miles an hour, 145 miles an hour, it's a lot of force, and we spent a lot of time, you know, developing this sequence. I, look, I fly aerobatic airplanes, I fly jets, I fly helicopters, and this took all of our ability and all of our skill to be able find the camera angles to tell this story. Physically, what I had to do to prepare for this thing was quite extreme, and I can tell you this — whatever people see in the trailer or on TV, it is not even a taste of what they have in store for them when they see this film."

Sounds like a good reason that "Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning" is a must-see when it opens Friday!

Tom promised, “People are seeing it, like, 'How can it get crazier than that?' We're not showing anyone. They're gonna have to go to the theaters to see it. I will never show them in the ads.”

Tom said that in spite of all the action, he actually gets his adrenaline fix from the moviemaking experience. “It's such a privilege to do what I do," he reflected. "It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to be able to do this and to make movies... I truly, I love it. That is my, I don't know, it's not what I do, it's who I am."

He added, "It is my honor to entertain."