Washington DC [US], November 18 (HBTV): Actor Tom Cruise was presented with an Academy Honorary Award at the Governors Awards on November 16, reported Variety. The award was presented by filmmaker Alejandro G. Inarritu, who is directing Cruise in an upcoming, untitled film scheduled for release in October 2026.
Cruise delivered an emotional speech, acknowledging the people who make filmmaking possible and highlighting the unifying power of cinema, reported Variety. He said, ‘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 theatre, 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.’
Reflecting on his early journey in cinema, Cruise recalled his childhood love for films. He said, ‘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 theatre, and I remember that beam of light just cut across the room, and I remember looking up, and it seemed to be just exploded on the screen. Suddenly, the world was so much larger than the one that I knew. And entire cultures and lives and landscapes all unfolded in front of me, and it sparked something.’
He added, ‘It sparked a hunger for adventure, a hunger for knowledge, a hunger to understand humanity, to create characters, to tell a story, to see the world. 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.’
Cruise has previously received four Oscar nominations: Best Actor for Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire, Best Supporting Actor for Magnolia, and Best Picture for his role as a producer on Top Gun: Maverick.
The Governors Awards red carpet saw the presence of numerous actors entering the awards season race, including Jennifer Lawrence, Michael B. Jordan, Sydney Sweeney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dwayne Johnson, Emma Stone and others, reported Variety.
(ANI)