Tom Cruise honoured with first Oscar after 45-year film career

Paula Ramon

AFP·

17 Nov, 2025 06:09 PM2 mins to read

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US actor Tom Cruise, who has received an honorary Oscar, spoke of his love for cinema in a heartfelt speech. Photo / Getty Images

US actor Tom Cruise has received an honorary Oscar, the first golden statue of his decades-long career, to a standing ovation from Hollywood’s elite.

To the sound of the Mission Impossible theme tune, a hallmark of the 63-year-old actor’s career, Cruise took to the stage at the Dolby Theatre in
Los Angeles at the weekend to applause from peers including Colin Farrell and Emilio Estevez, with whom he has shared the screen, and the renowned Steven Spielberg, who directed him in Minority Report and War of the Worlds.

Cruise, a four-time Oscar nominee, has never won the award and spoke of his love for cinema in a heartfelt speech.

He praised the big screen as a place that sparks “a hunger for adventure, a hunger for knowledge, a hunger to understand humanity, to create characters, to tell a story, to see the world”.

The honorary Oscars, awarded annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, celebrate cinema legends for their careers and contributions to the film industry.