Tom Cruise Celebrates MTV Movie & TV Awards Win By Flying ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Plane

Tom Cruise, 60, won the award for best performance in a movie for his part in the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick at the MTV Movie & TV Awards on Sunday. He gave his acceptance speech in a pre-recorded video that showed him piloting a P-51 Mustang, the same plane he flies in the film.

With the golden popcorn statue in the back of the plane, Cruise thanked viewers for the recognition and said, “I make these films for you. I love you, I love entertaining you.”

He then promoted his upcoming action film Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which hits theaters on July 12.

The other nominees in the category included Florence Pugh (Don’t Worry Darling), Austin Butler (Elvis), Michael B. Jordan (Creed III) and Keke Palmer (Nope). Top Gun: Maverick led the movies category this year with the most nominations at six. Both The Last of Us and Stranger Things led the television category with six nominations each.

The awards show had to make a last-minute change away from a live format after host Drew Barrymore stepped down on Thursday in solidarity with the ongoing Hollywood Writers’ strike. The actress still appeared in pre-taped segments during the broadcast. All of the winners, including Pedro Pascal and Jennifer Coolidge, also accepted their awards in pre-taped speeches.