As published on Blog do Amaury Jr./Splash UOL

On the night of November 16, 2025, Tom Cruise finally received his Honorary Oscar — a historic gap in his career that, for the first time, was corrected publicly, emotionally, and with almost reverential enthusiasm. The tribute took place during the Governors Awards, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood, inside one of the most star-packed rooms of the decade. A giant of global box office, an influential producer, an uncompromising defender of theatrical exhibition, and a central figure in pop culture, Cruise was celebrated not only for the body of work he built, but for the ongoing impact he has on the very meaning of “going to the movies.”

Presented by Alejandro G. Iñárritu — who is directing Cruise in a new Warner Bros. feature slated for October 2026 — the moment marked the actor’s official entry into the Academy’s institutional pantheon. And, by all indications, it may have opened an even more ambitious chapter: Iñárritu himself hinted that “this won’t be his last Oscar,” raising expectations of a future competitive nomination.

The speech: memory, humanity, and a profession lived as identity

Cruise took the stage and delivered a speech that instantly became the most talked-about moment of the night. He thanked the filmmaking community, celebrated technical crews, and reinforced the role of audiences as the industry’s vital force. Then he delivered the sentence that perfectly encapsulates his trajectory: “Making films is not what I do, it is who I am.”

He then dove into emotional memory, recalling the first time he sat in a dark theater:

“I was just a kid in a movie theater, looking at that beam of light cutting across the room and opening a world larger than my own. It expanded my imagination, my hunger for adventure, for knowledge, for understanding humanity.”

The speech — oscillating between poetry and manifesto — reinforced the artistic and emotional depth of someone who has never treated cinema as a career, but as destiny.

The night was also shaped by behind-the-scenes moments, many of them orbiting Cruise himself. Stars froze upon seeing him or approached like fans, underscoring something Hollywood has repeated for years: Tom Cruise is one of the last performers whose physical presence still triggers instant, almost primal reactions, even among colleagues accustomed to fame. Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall, Benicio Del Toro, Jennifer Lopez, Mark Hamill, Ted Sarandos, Rian Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, and Sydney Sweeney all formed a circle around the star, hoping to exchange a few words.

Other celebrities — Austin Butler, Josh O’Connor, Jacob Elordi, Noah Baumbach, Richard Linklater, and Ariana Grande — were also in attendance, all of them deep into their 2026 Oscar campaigns.

Other honorees: Debbie Allen, Wynn Thomas, and Dolly Parton

Although Cruise dominated the headlines, other moments shone brightly. Debbie Allen received her Honorary Oscar from Cynthia Erivo and, upon seeing Cruise in the audience, playfully referenced his legendary Risky Business moment: “Honey, we will never forget when you slid out in those tighty-whities. And neither should you.”

Wynn Thomas, a trailblazer in production design, moved the room with memories of growing up poor in Philadelphia and escaping through imagination, drawing laughter when recalling neighborhood gangs calling him a “sissy”: “But that sissy grew up to work with some of the greatest filmmakers.”

Dolly Parton, absent due to health concerns, delivered an emotional pre-recorded message accepting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Lily Tomlin, who introduced her, delivered a hilarious fifteen-minute improvised monologue, recalling pajama-party sleepovers with Parton and Jane Fonda during the filming of 9 to 5.

“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 theater, 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”

Tom Cruise

The presence of Guillermo del Toro and the Frankenstein team

Another focal point of the night centered on Guillermo del Toro, joined by Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth, Kate Hawley, and Alexandre Desplat, the creative team behind Frankenstein, one of the most anticipated films of 2025. Their presence was a reminder that the Governors Awards, beyond celebration, also serve as a strategic barometer for awards season.

Brazilian actor Wagner Moura, who is also campaigning for Oscar consideration, said he left the ballroom energized by Cruise’s speech: “I want to make a movie right now. His speech was pure fuel.”

An Honorary Oscar that doesn’t close a chapter — it opens one

The Honorary Oscar could have carried the tone of a late correction, but in Cruise’s case, it functions unmistakably as a prologue. With the actor at the center of Iñárritu’s next film — already regarded behind the scenes as a strong contender for the 2027 Oscars — it is impossible not to recall the precedent set by Paul Newman, who, after receiving his Honorary Oscar, went on to win a competitive one the following year, in a film in which he co-starred with a young Tom Cruise. The parallel hasn’t gone unnoticed in Hollywood.

Cruise often says he continues to follow that beam of light he first saw in a movie theater as a boy. What the Governors Awards made evident is that this light has not dimmed; it continues to illuminate those around him. In a fragmented industry pressured by technological shifts and changing audience habits, his presence still generates alignment, anticipation, and momentum.

If this Oscar corrects a historical omission, it also opens the door to something larger: the recognition that Cruise, far from closing his trajectory, may be stepping into one of the most compelling phases of his long career. And Hollywood, even as it evolves, still knows how to honor those who never stopped carrying the flame that keeps cinema alive.