Tom Cruise has added another accolade to his already illustrious collection.
The "Mission Impossible" actor received an honorary Oscar on Sunday night at the 16th Governors Awards in Los Angeles.
The Honorary Award is given "to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences in any discipline, or for outstanding service to the Academy," according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Cruise began his acceptance speech by thanking Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Iñárritu, who presented him the award, telling him, "Your work is beautiful. It's truthful. It's so very human."
Iñárritu is known for his psychological dramas, including such films as "Babel," "21 Grams," "Birdman," "The Revenant" and more.
Next, Cruise paid tribute to his fellow honorees, acclaimed production designer Wynn Thomas; dancer, actress and choreographer Debbie Allen; and music legend and philanthropist Dolly Parton, who received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honor given to those "whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities," according to the academy.
"I am truly grateful to have this moment," Cruise said, adding that "it allows me to acknowledge all the people who have helped me, all the people that I have been fortunate enough to create these films with."
Cruise went on to describe his love for cinema, which he said began as a young child. "Suddenly the world was so much larger than the one that I knew," he said.
He said his passion for film unlocked "a hunger to understand humanity, to create characters, to tell a story, to see the world." As a child, he said, he worked in order to earn enough money to get into theaters.
"No matter where we come from in that theater, we laugh together, we feel together, we hope together, we dream together. And that is the power of this art form," he said.
"Making films is not what I do. It is who I am," he added.
Cruise then asked the room of attendees to stand up if they had ever worked with him, as he recognized his colleagues with applause for their help.
"Please know that I carry you with me, each of you, and you are part of every frame of every film I have ever made or ever will make," he said, adding, "I want you to know that I will always do everything I can to help this art form, to support and champion new voices, to protect what makes cinema powerful -- and hopefully without too many more broken bones."
Cruise has received four previous Oscar nominations in his career, earning best actor nods for 1990's "Born on the Fourth of July" and 1997's "Jerry Maguire," a best supporting actor nod for his role in 2000's "Magnolia," and a best picture nod for his work as a producer on 2022's "Top Gun: Maverick."
The 16th Governors Awards were a star-studded event, as the biggest names in Hollywood gathered to honor some of the film industry's most iconic names.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, Dwayne Johnson, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were just a few of the attendees at this year's ceremony.
The awards were voted on by the Academy's Board of Governors this past June, according to a press release from the Academy.
