Tom Cruise has built himself into one of the most iconic forces in the history of Hollywood. Despite his far-reaching influence on the industry and how films are made, he has unfortunately come short on one front - being recognized for his efforts in the form of being presented with awards for his work.In the latest news involving the star of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise was presented with an honorary Academy Award during the Governors Awards on November 16. Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu presented the award to Cruise, whose heartfelt words resonated deeply with those in attendance.Once the news broke, several users took to social media to express their thoughts on Tom Cruise receiving his first Oscar (albeit an honorary nod). In a rare occurrence in today’s online climate, the reactions were unanimously positive.One user exclaimed,“Mission accomplished… literally!”Stranger Things @MrkItsme94772LINK@Variety “Mission accomplished… literally!”Another shared,“Tom Cruise finally getting an Oscar feels like the timeline correcting itself”One fan viewed the award as something that had been a long time coming,“Finally, Tom got his long overdue Oscar. LEGEND got appreciated, congrats GOAT”And lastly, one user argued that he had been snubbed by the Academy on at least 3 past occasions,“He should’ve won for Jerry Maguirre and Maverick .. and should’ve been nominated for Interview with a Vampire . Just to name a few”Tom Cruise receives an honorary Academy AwardFor Tom Cruise, accepting the honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards was a feather on the cap of a legendary career. The more that Cruise speaks about filmmaking, the more that audiences learn about his very real and wholesome love for films at his core.This genuine love for what he does was echoed in his genuinely crafted acceptance speech. Tom Cruise put his all into every step of the process of making his films, by all accounts, and reflected that once he was presented with the award.“The cinema, it takes me around the world. It helps me to appreciate and respect differences. It shows me also our shared humanity, how alike we are in so, so many ways. And no matter where we come from, in that theater, we laugh together, we feel together, we hope together, and that is the power of this art form. And that is why it matters, that is why it matters to me. So making films is not what I do, it is who I am.”The actor went on to add,“My love for cinema began at a very early age, as early as I can remember. 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.”Interestingly, Cruise has been nominated for four Academy Awards to date, but has never taken home the prize until now.