Tom Cruise receives honorary Oscar at 2025 Governors Awards

Tom Cruise was given a major honor at the 2025 Governors Awards.

The actor received an honorary Academy Award on the night of Nov. 16, with the gong presented to him by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who is directing Cruise in the yet-to-be-titled film, scheduled for release in October 2026.

Taking to the stage, the film legend took the opportunity to speak and pay tribute to all those who make movies, as well as mentioning the unifying power of cinema.

“Movies take me all over the world,” Cruise told Variety. “It helps us recognize and respect our differences. It shows us our common humanity, how similar we are in so many ways. And no matter where we come from, in that theater we laugh together, we feel together, we hope together. That’s the power of this art form.”

“That’s why it’s important, that’s why it’s important to me. That’s why it’s not my job to make movies, it’s who I am.”

The Mission: Impossible star, who wore a black tuxedo for the occasion, then touched on his childhood and where his love of movies came from.

“My love for movies started at a very young age, ever since I can remember,” he said. “I was just a kid, so it was a dark theater, and I remember that beam of light just going across the room, and I remember looking up and seeing it seem like it exploded on the screen. Suddenly, the world was so much bigger than I knew.”

“The culture, the life, the landscape all unfolded before my eyes, and it sparked something. It sparked a thirst for adventure, a thirst for knowledge, a hunger to understand humanity, to create characters, to tell stories, to see the world. It opened my eyes. It opened my imagination to the possibility that life could extend far beyond the boundaries I had recognized in my life.”

He concluded, “And that ray opened a desire to open the world, and I have been following it ever since.”

The 63-year-old actor, who received four Oscar nominations during his career for Top Gun: Maverick, including Best Actor for The Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, Best Supporting Actor for Magnolia, and Best Picture for his role as a producer in Top Gun: Maverick, accepted the award at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, along with fellow honorees Dolly Parton, Debbie Allen and Wynne Thomas.

When Cruise’s award was announced in June, Academy President Janet Yang praised him, calling him “one of the highest-profile and highest-grossing actors of all time.”

“Cruise’s incredible commitment to our filmmaking community, theatrical experience and stunt community has been an inspiration to all of us,” she said.

The Jerry Maguire star also showed off his fun-loving side as he danced wildly with fellow Oscar honorary nominee choreographer Debbie Allen at a pre-ceremony event the night before.

In one video shared to Instagram by producer and DJ D. Nice, Cruise and Allen can be seen facing each other on the dance floor, boogieing and laughing.

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Cruise made a name for himself starring in hit films such as Risky Business (1983), Independence Day (1989), and Jerry Maguire (1996). He began work on the Mission: Impossible series, which ran from 1996 to the latest installment, Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning, in 2025.

Throughout the series’ eight films, he continued to raise the bar with his stunts. Over the series’ 30 years, Cruise has done everything from hanging from a wire in Mission: Impossible to jumping his motorcycle off a cliff in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1.

In PEOPLE’s special issue, Cruise explained why he continues to do his own stunts.

“People feel authentic. They feel dedication and joy in learning something and creating from it. That’s what I keep telling artists: Don’t ask permission to create,” he said. “If you’re interested in dancing or singing, give it a try. I’ll learn a skill, and I know I’ll end up using it in a movie.”

Cruise is also known for his unwavering passion for the industry.

After Top Gun: Maverick was crowned the highest-grossing film in the U.S. in 2022, Cruise was praised by movie legend Steven Spielberg at the 2023 Oscar Nominees Luncheon for saving “Hollywood’s butt” with the sequel’s success.

The director added that Cruise “may have completely saved theatrical distribution” with the long-awaited sequel to the 1986 hit.

The 2026 Oscars ceremony will be hosted by Conan O’Brien, who will return for the second year in a row after hosting the 97th ceremony earlier this year.

Preliminary voting for the 98th Academy Awards begins in December, with nominations announced on January 22, 2026.

The 98th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026.