Why was Tom Cruise a no-show at the Academy Awards this year?
It doesn't seem that it was any bad blood or hard feelings.
No, the man just can't stop working.
There's an expectation for all of the world's biggest movie stars to crowd into the Dolby
Theatre for the Academy Awards every year.
But at least one wasn't able to make it in 2023: Tom Cruise, despite the many nominations
for "Top Gun: Maverick."
You may be surprised to learn Cruise has never actually won an Oscar before.
But he's been nominated an impressive four times, landing his first nomination back in
1990 for Best Actor for the role of real life Sergeant Ron Kovic in "Born on the Fourth
of July."
He earned another in the same category in 1997 for "Jerry Maguire."
"Show me the money!"
He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for "Magnolia" in 2000, and then, 2023 brought
him the coveted Best Picture nomination for "Top Gun: Maverick."
While we're sure the cast and crew of the massive sequel were celebrating the movie's
huge success all night, the main man himself wasn't there.
Cruise simply couldn't get to the show because he's in the U.K., according to Entertainment
Tonight.
He's there filming another installment of one of his other most famous movie franchises,
"Mission: Impossible."
Cruise is actually working on "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part II," with Deadline
reporting he's also been shooting for the upcoming movie on the Italian island of Sicily.
Besides being the star who plays the title character, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Cruise
is also one of the producers of the incredibly well received "Top Gun: Maverick," so it's
a real shame the star wasn't around to celebrate its six nominations and one win, for Best
Sound, alongside the cast and crew.
At least we got a Lady Gaga performance of the movie's theme.
Nevertheless, there are sure to be more chances to win an Oscar in the actor's future.
Hey, maybe he'll even be back next year for "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part
I"?
While Cruise no doubt would probably have been the leader of the pack had he been able
to attend the 2023 Oscars, the cast and crew of "Top Gun: Maverick" weren't without enthusiasm.
And of course, they had Tom on their minds when they hit the red carpet for the big award
show.
"Maverick" co-star Charles Parnell addressed Cruise's absence in an interview with Entertainment
Tonight, saying,"
"He's off doing TC things that make TC, TC.
Working while other people are playing.
Stuntin' while other people are sleeping."
"Everything Everywhere All At Once" ended up taking home the Best Picture prize, but
Entertainment Tonight noted that, had "Top Gun: Maverick" won the night's biggest award,
producer Jerry Bruckheimer would have taken the stage to accept it.
Cruise did manage to get in on a little bit of 2023 Oscars action, despite skipping out
on the ceremony.
He attended a luncheon for the award show's nominees in February.
At the event, Cruise received very high praise from none other than Steven Spielberg, who
couldn't stop gushing about him or "Top Gun: Maverick."
The director couldn't say enough good things about the movie's performance in a movie landscape
that was still uncertain because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
DiscussingFilm quotes Spielberg as telling Cruise,
"You saved Hollywood's ass and you might have saved theatrical distribution.
Seriously, 'Top Gun: Maverick' might have saved the entire theatrical industry."
Variety also reported there was a little controversy involving the actor when Bruckheimer hosted
an event at his home that was attended by a number of Academy Awards voters.
The event raised some eyebrows as it was voting season, and, as we mentioned, "Top Gun: Maverick"
had multiple nominations.
Cruise's presence was also felt during the Oscars ceremony.
After an opening skit that featured a scene from "Top Gun: Maverick," host Jimmy Kimmel
actually fell from the ceiling with a parachute after he pretended to be ejected from the
plane of Cruise's Captain Pete Mitchell while the movie's iconic guitar riff played.
Kimmel then went on to joke about Cruise not being at the show and quipped maybe he was
there disguised as Judd Hirsch in a "Mission: Impossible" mask.
As far as we know, though, it was really Hirsch, who himself was nominated for Best Supporting
Actor for his role in "The Fablemans."