'Always Felt Like An Outsider': Tom Cruise Sick Of Hollywood, Looking To Plant Roots Outside Of Tinseltown

"Tom's always felt like an outsider in Hollywood," said the source. "He's extremely dedicated to his craft and has an old-fashioned work ethic and doesn't have time for the rest of the B.S."

It's not just the superficiality of the business that turns the Top Gun star off. Los Angeles also holds painful reminders of Tom's failed marriages to Mimi Rogers (1987-1990), Nicole Kidman (1990-2001), and Katie Holmes (2006-2012).

"L.A. was Tom's home base during those marriages and that's where those marriages ended in divorce," the insider added. "So the city conjures up memories he'd rather not dwell on."

These days, the New York native only goes to L.A. on business.

"As soon as it's finished, he's out of there," noted the insider. "He's not trying to avoid anyone per se, he just doesn't have time for much socializing."

After selling his L.A. mansion and unloading his estate in Telluride, Colorado, in recent years, Tom has been spending most of his time across the Atlantic ensconced in a luxury pad in London.

Not only does the Oscar nominee feel he has more privacy abroad, said the insider, "he appreciates London's history and theater and architecture."

More important: "It's not a one-industry town like Hollywood."

England's central location also makes traveling for work easy, and Tom's latest project, the eighth installment in the M:I franchise has taken him to South Africa, where he's delighted locals by chatting and posing for selfies after piloting his own helicopter to and from the small town of Hoedspruit.

"The people of Hoedspruit gather in anticipation," Mel Owtram, the owner of Antares Bush Camp and Safaris, told a local newspaper. "Tom's grown to love the country. He loves the landscape, the culture, the people who have been so welcoming to him."

Tom has even hinted he might like to put roots down there. "It's beautiful here," the actor told fans. "It would be nice to live here permanently."

Either way, the Jerry Maguire vet is just happy to steer clear of Tinseltown.

"He doesn't like the Hollywood politics and the attention-seeking celebrities," the source explained. "He's separated himself from the phonies and hangers-on and simply doesn't have time for people who use each other."

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