You complete me: Tom Cruise to receive AFI Life Achievement Award

The American Film Institute has announced Tom Cruise will be the recipient of the 2027 AFI Life Achievement Award.

The actor and producer, known as much for his dramatic roles as his death-defying stunt work, will be celebrated for his prodigious career during a gala tribute in April.

Previous AFI Life Achievement Award recipients include Jack Nicholson, with whom Cruise starred in A Few Good Men; his Rain Mancostar Dustin Hoffman; and Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Cruise in The Outsiders.

“Tom Cruise is a global icon,” Kathleen Kennedy, chair of the AFI Board of Trustees, said in a release Wednesday. “As an actor and producer, he brings an extraordinary commitment to everything he does. What I especially admire is his deep belief in movies and their ability to bring people together. That passion has made him an extraordinary ambassador for American film around the world.”

Cruise’s big-screen career began with small roles in the early ‘80s before joining the ensemble cast of up-and-coming actors in 1983’s The Outsiders. His breakout role as Joel in Risky Businesscame later that year, followed by his turn as daring Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun in 1986.

He’s most recently been seen in the blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick, as well as seventh and eighth installments of the Mission: Impossible franchise. Digger, in which he stars as “the most powerful man in the world,” is currently in theaters.

Throughout his more than 40-year career, Cruise has produced or starred in dozens of award-winning films: he received a best actor Academy Award nomination for Born on the Fourth of Julyand Jerry Maguire, and was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for Magnolia. His 1988 project with Hoffman, Rain Man, won the 1989 Academy Award for best picture; his producer role on Top Gun: Maverickalso earned him an Oscar nomination for best picture.

In 2025, he was awarded the Honorary Oscar at the Academy’s Governors Awards.

Cruise will receive the AFI Life Achievement Award at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on April 24.