Tom Cruise is expressing his gratitude after it was unveiled on Thursday that he’ll be awarded the British Film Institute’s (BFI) highest accolade, the BFI Fellowship.
The Fellowship recognizes Cruise’s achievements across a decades-spanning career, as well as his contribution to the U.K. film industry as a producer who has shot numerous projects in Britain. This includes his Mission: Impossible films, which have been filmed on location in London, Birmingham, and Yorkshire.
Cruise’s support of the British film industry has therefore cultivated a wealth of talent in the country, bringing jobs, skills, and training to citizens across the U.K. BFI Film Academy and BFI Future Skills programme alumni have worked on the last two Mission: Impossible movies.
“I am truly honored by this acknowledgment,” the actor said. “I’ve been making films in the U.K. for over 40 years and have no plans to stop. The U.K. is home to incredibly talented professionals — actors, directors, writers, and crews, as well as some of the most stunning locations in the world. I’m grateful for all the BFI has done to support U.K. filmmaking and this incredible art form we share.”
Cruise has worked in the U.K. with a myriad of filmmakers, including Ridley Scott (Legend), Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut), Neil Jordan (Interview with the Vampire) and Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow).
He’ll receive the BFI Fellowship from institute chair Jay Hunt at the BFI Chair’s Dinner in London on May 12. “We are thrilled to be honoring Tom Cruise with a BFI Fellowship,” Hunt added. “Tom has brought so much to the U.K. as a producer … choosing to make many of his films on our shores, where he is welcomed by our crews who step up to help make his cinematic visions a reality.”
She continued: “In doing so, he also supports our studios and puts our locations on a world stage, in the process creating jobs and inspiring the next generation of film talent. He is, of course, also simply one of the world’s great actors and a true movie star, delighting audiences as the action hero and romantic lead and then surprising us with brave, leftfield roles where his versatility and talent shine through.”
On May 11, the BFI will host a special In Conversation event with Cruise in central London for public audiences and film students. The events and Fellowship form part of a month-long BFI celebration of Cruise’s film career, with a season of 27 films featuring Cruise screening throughout May in the British capital.
He joins a distinguished rank of other BFI Fellows including David Lean, Bette Davis, Akira Kurosawa, Ousmane Sembène, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, Orson Welles, Thelma Schoonmaker, Derek Jarman, Martin Scorsese, Satyajit Ray, Yasujirō Ozu and, most recently, Tilda Swinton, Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, Spike Lee and Christopher Nolan.