Tom Cruise was presented with an Academy Honorary Award during the Nov. 16 Governors Awards, and it’s no surprise that the movie star had a lengthy acceptance speech.

The award was presented by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who is directing Cruise in  upcoming, as-yet-untitled film set to be released in October 2026.

Upon accepting the award, Cruise gave an emotional speech paying tribute to the people who make films possible, as well as the unifying power of cinema.

Cruise also spoke about the genesis of his film fandom.

“My love for cinema began at a very early age, as early as I can remember,” he said. “I was just a little kid in a darkened theater, and I remember that beam of light just cut across the room, and I remember looking up, and it seemed to be just exploded on the screen. Suddenly, the world was so much larger than the one that I knew. And entire cultures and lives and landscapes all unfolded in front of me, and it sparked something. It sparked a hunger for adventure, a hunger for knowledge, a hunger to understand humanity, to create characters, to tell a story, to see the world. It opened my eyes. It opened my imagination to the possibility that life could expand far beyond the boundaries that I then perceived in my own life. And that beam of light opened a desire to open the world, and I have been following it ever since.”

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Earlier in the ceremony, Cynthia Erivo presented choreographer Debbie Allen with an honorary Oscar. Production designer Wynn Thomas also received a statue celebrating his lifetime of work. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was presented to Dolly Parton, who wasn’t able to attend the show in person due to health, so she sent a pre-taped speech.

The event drew scores of actors eager to join the awards season race this year, including Jennifer Lawrence, Michael B. Jordan, Sydney Sweeney, DiCaprio, Dwayne Johnson, Emma Stone and many more.

Watch some of Cruise’s speech below.