Tom Cruise receives honorary Oscar at Governors Awards: Shows our shared humanity

Tom Cruise was awarded the prestigious Academy Honorary Award at the Governors Awards on Nov. 16, and the actor marked the moment with a heartfelt, blockbuster-style acceptance speech. This award was given by filmmaker Alejandro G. Hosted by Iñárritu, who is directing Cruise in an upcoming untitled release in 2026, the superstar used the platform to reflect on his journey, the magic of films and the people who made them possible.

Cruise spoke passionately about cinema’s ability to unite audiences around the world. “Cinema, it takes me around the world. It helps me appreciate and respect differences. It also shows me our shared humanity, we are alike in so many ways. And it doesn’t matter where we come from, in that theater, we laugh together, we feel together, we hope together, and that’s the strength of this art form. And that’s why it matters, that’s why it matters to me. So Making movies is not what I do, it’s who I am,” he said.

The actor also reflected on how his love for films started in his childhood. “My love of cinema started at a very young age, as far back as I can remember,” Cruz recalled, describing the wonder he felt as a child upon seeing a beam of light on the big screen. He continued, “Suddenly, the world became bigger than I knew, it sparked a hunger for adventure, a hunger for knowledge, a hunger to understand humanity, and that ray of light sparked a desire to open up the world, and I’ve been following it ever since.”

In his decades-long career, Cruise has earned four Oscar nominations -As producer of ‘Born on the Fourth of July’, ‘Jerry Maguire’, ‘Magnolia’ and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’. This year the Governors Awards also saw a star-studded presence, including Jennifer Lawrence, Michael B. Jordyn, Sydney Sweeney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dwayne Johnson, Emma Stone and many more graced the red carpet as awards season gets into full swing.