In a landmark moment for one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, Tom Cruise has secured his first-ever Academy Award. The actor received an honorary Oscar at the annual Governors Awards, a celebration that saw him marking the occasion with a joyous dance.
A Long-Awaited Academy Honour
Despite being one of the most recognised and highly-paid actors in the world, thanks to blockbuster franchises like Mission: Impossible and classics such as Top Gun and Rain Man, an Oscar had eluded Tom Cruise for decades. The 63-year-old had accumulated four previous nominations but never won.
That all changed on Sunday night. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Cruise with the Academy Honorary Award, recognising his prolific acting career and his significant dedication to the stunt community. The star was captured on the dancefloor by American DJ D-Nice, who shared a clip of the celebratory boogie on social media with the caption: ‘Last night was a vibe!... @tomcruise is invited to the barbecue!’
The Emotional Acceptance Speech
Upon accepting the award from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, with whom he is collaborating on a forthcoming 2026 film, Cruise delivered a powerful and emotional speech about his lifelong passion for cinema.
‘The cinema, it takes me around the world,’ he told the audience. ‘It helps me to appreciate and respect differences. It shows me also our shared humanity, how alike we are in so, so many ways.’ He described the power of the theatrical experience, where audiences ‘laugh together, we feel together, we hope together,’ concluding, ‘making films is not what I do, it is who I am.’
He reminisced about his childhood, recalling the magic of a beam of light in a darkened theatre. ‘It sparked a hunger for adventure, a hunger for knowledge, a hunger to understand humanity... It opened my imagination to the possibility that life could expand far beyond the boundaries that I then perceived in my own life.’
Other Honourees and the Ceremony's Significance
Cruise was not the only recipient of the academy's highest honours. The Academy Honorary Award was also bestowed upon choreographer and actress Debbie Allen and production designer Wynn Thomas. In a separate category, music legend Dolly Parton was honoured with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
The Governors Awards is an annual ceremony dedicated to celebrating lifetime achievements in film. Past recipients of the honorary award include cinematic legends such as Cary Grant, Angela Lansbury, and Samuel L. Jackson, placing Cruise firmly among an elite group of industry icons.
Tom Cruise's Oscar nominations were for:
- Best Actor for Born on the Fourth of July (1990)
- Best Actor for Jerry Maguire (1997)
- Best Supporting Actor for Magnolia (2000)
- Best Picture for Top Gun: Maverick (2023)
This honorary Oscar finally grants the globally renowned actor his place in Academy Award history.
