Tom Cruise is an American actor who needs no introduction. His list of accolades is almost as long as the number of films he has acted in. But his contributions to the cinema extend beyond just acting, and hence, the actor's popularity transcends the boundaries of countries and continents.
On November 16, 2025, the celebrated actor was presented with an Academy Honorary Award at the Governors Awards. Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director of Cruise's untitled upcoming release in October 2026, presented the award to him.
While accepting the award, Tom Cruise delivered an emotional but powerful speech highlighting what cinema means to him.
Tom Cruise Accepts Honorary Oscar At Governors Awards
"The cinema, it takes me around the world," Cruise began, adding, "It helps me to appreciate and respect differences. It shows me also our shared humanity, how alike we are in so, so many ways."
"And no matter where we come from, in that theatre, we laugh together, we feel together, we hope together, and that is the power of this art form. And that is why it matters, that is why it matters to me. So making films is not what I do, it is who I am," he added.
"My love for cinema began at a very early age, as early as I can remember," Cruise shared, remembering, "I was just a little kid in a darkened theatre, and I remember that beam of light just cut across the room, and I remember looking up, and it seemed to be just exploded on the screen. Suddenly, the world was so much larger than the one that I knew."
"And entire cultures and lives and landscapes all unfolded in front of me, and it sparked something. It sparked a hunger for adventure, a hunger for knowledge, a hunger to understand humanity, to create characters, to tell a story, to see the world," the larger-than-life actor added.
"It opened my eyes. It opened my imagination to the possibility that life could expand far beyond the boundaries that I then perceived in my own life. And that beam of light opened a desire to open the world, and I have been following it ever since," he concluded.
Along with Tom Cruise, the Governors Awards honorees included 'cinematic visionaries' like Dolly Parton, Debbie Allen, and Wynn Thomas.
Tom Cruise's Oscar Nominations
Tom Cruise has been nominated for the Oscars four times - Best actor for Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, best supporting actor for Magnolia and best picture for his role as a producer on Top Gun: Maverick.
Apart from his untitled film with Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Tom Cruise will reportedly star in Broadsword, a movie based on World War II and an Edge of Tomorrow sequel.
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