Tom Cruise To Receive An Honorary Oscar
Four-time Academy Award nominee and megastar Tom Cruise is one of the four recipients to receive an Honorary Oscar this Sunday.
The Academy announced Tom Cruise as one of the four honorees at the Governors Awards on June 17th, 2025.
What is the Honorary Academy Award?
Ever since the inception of the Academy Awards in 1929, the Honorary Oscar award (once known as the Special Award) has been presented annually to honor the lifetime achievements of some of the most important figures in cinema. It was awarded for the first time to Warner Bros. and Charlie Chaplin in the 1920’s. Since 2009, it has been presented separately at the Governors Awards instead of the usual Academy Awards ceremony. Former Honorary Academy Award recipients include all-time greats such as Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, James Stewart, Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, Francis Ford Coppola, Spike Lee, and many more. It is considered one of the most prestigious awards an artist can receive.
The video below shows Charlie Chaplin receiving his second Honorary Academy Award at the 44th Oscars in 1972. Chaplin received a record 12-minute-long standing ovation here.
Why Does Tom Cruise Deserve the Honorary Academy Award?
A Best Actor win may have eluded Cruise his entire four-decade spanning career, but this Honorary Academy Award is set to put him alongside a group steeped with prestige. Tom Cruise has given his all to cinema, and it is no wonder that he is getting the recognition for it. From death-defying stunts for the franchise that is synonymous with him, Mission: Impossible, to his work with auteurs such as Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Michael Mann in films like Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Magnolia (1999), and Collateral (2004).
This doesn’t mean Cruise is done challenging himself and the norms of visual entertainment. He has famously said that he is never going to stop making movies. The Golden Globe-winning actor is currently set to star in the upcoming Alejandro González Iñárritu film rumored to be titled Judy, a much awaited step away from action. He would be starring in an ensemble cast comprised of Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed, and more. This could potentially be Cruise’s best attempt at winning the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. His other notable projects in development include a Top Gun sequel, a WWII action-drama with friend and long-term collaborator Christopher McQuarrie, and the mind-boggling SpaceX film that sounds too insane to be true.
All the speeches from the Governors Awards this Sunday will be available online and for you to watch on the official Oscars YouTube channel.
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