Even an old hand like Tom Cruise (59) was speechless for a moment. Shortly before the actor (‘Mission: Impossible’) presented his latest film ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ at the Cannes Film Festival, the festival director — director Thierry Fremaux (62) — showed a compilation of his greatest successes.
“Wow!”
The festival official then awarded the superstar the coveted Palme d’Or, the golden palm tree. An honorary award, with which Tom’s services to the cinema are highlighted and which action stars rarely get to see. Even Tom Cruise was speechless for a moment. “Wow!”, he just said, because apparently the surprise was a success. The audience gave a standing ovation before his latest film was even shown. Finally Tom found his speech again. “An incredible night and time. Just seeing all the faces,” said the Hollywood king. “It’s been 36 years since ‘Top Gun’ and we had to postpone this two years because of the pandemic. I’ll take it all in and I’ll never forget this evening.”
Tom Cruise wants to keep doing stunts
In the afternoon, Tom Cruise had already answered questions from the journalists. No, according to the superstar, he never gets tired of the promotional tours for new films. And no, he has no intention of stopping his own stunts either. “Nobody asked Gene Kelly, ‘Why are you dancing?’ “I want to take this art form to new heights. How do I immerse the audience in this kind of action? How do I entertain them?” He is fully committed to the cinema. It didn’t even consider releasing ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ on a streaming platform. “That was never an option,” said Tom Cruise.