Tom Cruise Accepts Honorary Oscar With Emotional Speech at Governors Awards: ‘Making Films Is Not What I Do, It Is Who I Am’

Tom Cruise

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV is an American actor and producer. Regarded as a Hollywood icon, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or, three Golden Globe Awards, and nominations for four Academy Awards. His films have grossed over $12 billion worldwide, placing him among the highest-grossing actors ever. He is one of Hollywood's most bankable stars and consistently one of the world's highest-paid actors. Cruise began acting in the early 1980s and made his breakthrough with leading roles in Risky Business (1983) and Top Gun (1986). Critical acclaim came with his roles in the dramas The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). He won a Golden Globe Award for portraying Ron Kovic in the latter. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. As a leading Hollywood star in the 1990s, he starred in commercially successful films, including the drama A Few Good Men (1992), the thriller The Firm (1993), the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), and the romance Jerry Maguire (1996). For the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Cruise's performance in the drama Magnolia (1999) earned him another Golden Globe Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Cruise subsequently became a science fiction and action film star, often performing his risky stunts. He has played fictional agent Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible film series since 1996. His other films in the genre include Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Knight and Day (2010), Jack Reacher (2012), Oblivion (2013), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Cruise holds the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive $100-million-grossing movies, a feat achieved from 2012 to 2018. In December 2024, he was awarded the US Navy's highest civilian honour, the Distinguished Public Service Award, for his "outstanding contributions" to the military with his screen roles. Forbes ranked him as the world's most powerful celebrity in 2006. He was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 1990 and received the top honour of "Most Beautiful People" in 1997. Outside his film career, Cruise has been an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology.