After almost 45 years of career, four nominations and a long list of cinematic successes, Tom Cruise finally received his first Oscar, an honorary award that was presented to him during the ceremony of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Hollywood, held last Sunday. This recognition marks a historic moment in the career of the actor, who at 63 years of age continues to be one of the most influential and highest-grossing figures in cinema.
In charge of presenting him with the statuette was Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, who highlighted the difficulty of summarizing the actor’s career in a few minutes: “How do you summarize Tom Cruise’s 45-year career in a four-minute speech? Mission impossible.
Iñárritu – who has directed Cruise in a film due for release in 2026 – praised the actor’s discipline and precision: “It’s not how far he runs or how high he jumps… it’s how precisely he chooses to move, those tiny calibrations”.
This tribute recognizes a filmography that includes iconic titles such as Top Gun, the Mission Impossible saga, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, Born on the Fourth of July and Eyes Wide Shut, among many others.
Accepting his award, Tom Cruise recalled the profound influence cinema had on his childhood: “Suddenly, the world was so much bigger than the one I knew.”
He recounted that as a child he worked all kinds of jobs to save money to buy movie tickets, a passion that he said shaped his entire life. With humor, he added, “I will always do everything I can to support this art form…to push for new voices, to protect what makes cinema powerful, hopefully without many more broken bones.”
And he closed with a phrase that resonated with attendees including Steven Spielberg, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ariana Grande: “Making movies is not what I do. It’s who I am.
Tom Cruise: Four nominations and a wait that’s finally over
Prior to this honorary Oscar, Cruise had been nominated four times:
Best Actor (1990) for Born on the Fourth of July – lost to Daniel Day-Lewis(My Left Foot).
Best Actor (1997) for Jerry Maguire – his clearest chance, snatched away by Geoffrey Rush(Shine).
Best Supporting Actor (2000) for Magnolia – Michael Caine(Cider House Rules) won.
Best Picture (2023) as a producer of Top Gun: Maverick – it won All at Once Everywhere.
Despite not having won a competitive statuette, his influence in Hollywood is undeniable and this recognition confirms it.
The ceremony also honored other prominent figures. Legendary singer Dolly Parton received the Jean Hersholt Award, given to personalities whose humanitarian efforts have benefited society.
Parton, whose philanthropic impact is recognized worldwide, founded a library that has given more than 300 million books to children. In addition, in 2020 he donated $1 million to support the development of the COVID-19 vaccine through Vanderbilt University.
The artist accepted the award through a video and recalled that she had already been nominated twice for an Oscar for her songs Nine to Five (1981) and Travelin’ Thru (2006).
The gala also paid tribute to two essential film figures who had never received previous nominations:
Wynn Thomas, Spike Lee’s regular production designer, whose work appears in such films as Malcolm X, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man and Hidden Figures.
Debbie Allen, choreographer, actress and producer, responsible for iconic choreography in film and television, as well as seven Oscar ceremonies.
The 2025 Board of Governors ceremony will be marked as the year Tom Cruise finally received the Oscar he had deserved for decades, on a night that also celebrated the talent, philanthropy and critical contributions of artists whose imprint on the industry is indelible.
Here you can watch Tom Cruise’s speech when he received his first Oscar.
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