Tom Cruise ‘Schmoozing’ Hollywood To Snag Oscar For ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Tom Cruise is on Mission Impossible as he tries to schmooze his way to an Oscar for his megahit Top Gun: Maverick while remaining aloof to prevent sparking another PR disaster, RadarOnline.com has learned.

The superstar's latest flyboy flick has racked up six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Though he was subbed for Best Actor, Tom, 60, could still win an Oscar as producer and has been making the glad-handing rounds in Tinseltown.

"He's charming the h---- out of everyone at all the industry events, but he's hard to pin down after the party's over," spilled an insider.

"Even his comings and goings are kept secret. When in Los Angeles, he divides his time between a Bel-Air residence and a Scientology base in the desert, traveling by helicopters he usually pilots himself so he can stay under the radar," the insider explained.

Tom's image took a nosedive after he was caught in a series of scandals, including his infamous television couch-jumping incident, a combative interview with Matt Lauer on Today, and his public feud with Brooke Shields over her use of antidepressants to treat postpartum depression.

While Tom rubs shoulders with Hollywood's biggest leading stars, he prefers to be close to his friends in the church. The actor is the poster boy for the Church of Scientology — and he likes it that way.

"He might have a lot of people throw themselves at him, but he's skeptical of anyone outside his Scientology clique," the source spilled, waring, "and an Oscar, if Top Gun wins, won't change that."

Sources already claimed Tom was fuming when he was snubbed from the Golden Globes, blaming his old foe Brad Pitt for sabotaging his chances of Hollywood success.

"It stinks that Brad, once again, seems to have milked his relationship with the foreign journalists at the Globes to get his own movie — which many consider way inferior to Top Gun — a ton of nods," said the insider. "As far as Tom's concerned, this snub is all Brad's fault!"

RadarOnline.com has reached out to Tom's rep for comment.