Hollywood star Tom Cruise accepted his first-ever Oscar, an Academy Honorary Award, at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles (US) on Sunday, and marked the moment with an emotional speech about his lifelong connection to cinema. The award was presented by director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who is currently working with Tom on an untitled film scheduled for release in October 2026.
Tom used his acceptance speech to acknowledge the people who make movies possible and the shared experience of watching films. “The cinema, it takes me around the world. 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 theater, 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 said.
The 63-year-old also spoke about how his connection to movies began in childhood. “My love for cinema began at a very early age, as early as I can remember. I was just a little kid in a darkened theater, and I remember that beam of light just cut across the room… 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 added.
{{/usCountry}}The 63-year-old also spoke about how his connection to movies began in childhood. “My love for cinema began at a very early age, as early as I can remember. I was just a little kid in a darkened theater, and I remember that beam of light just cut across the room… 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 added.
{{/usCountry}}The honour comes after multiple nominations over the years, including acting nods for Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia, as well as a Best Picture nomination for Top Gun: Maverick, which he produced.
The Governors Awards drew several prominent names from the current awards season, including Jennifer Lawrence, Michael B. Jordan, Sydney Sweeney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dwayne Johnson and Emma Stone. But for Cruise, the evening was defined by his long-awaited Oscar moment and the chance to reflect publicly on the role cinema has played throughout his life.