Tom Cruise and the Elusive Oscar | Why He's Never Won 

Tom Cruise is The King of Hollywood. He didn't need an Oscar trophy to prove something. He's on a different level all together. He could've continue doing heavy dramatic character-driven roles if he really wanted an Oscar for his career. But he knew his strength. And his strength is to be the true movie star alive by doing amazing action movies. His name is synonymous to Excellence. If ever, Oscar needs Tom Cruise.

Apparently Nicole Kidman encouraged Cruise to take more daring and unusual roles when they were married in the 90s, that’s why he did more interesting and character driven films during that time. Since then he’s been more focused on just doing action blockbuster films which is fine but it would be good to get more diversity in his acting work and films like his earlier career.

I was blown away by Magnolia and by his performance and for the life of me have never understood why it wasn’t more popular and revered! This is when I realized he was truly an actor and not just a movie star!! And then later also in the excellent Tropical Thunder, the wonderful Collateral and even his surprisingly great singing in Rock of Ages!! Obviously there are plenty who deserve an Oscar (Naomi Watts!!!) but none more than he does!!!

He’s hitting 60. He’ll start doing more character work and that’ll get the academy interested, then similar to Chris Plummer and Alan Arkin, he’ll win an Oscar for playing someone elderly and coming to terms with mistakes and regrets.

i think he’s focusing more on blockbuster/ action films now while he still can. I believe after the MI franchise he’ll focus on character-driven roles. Just let him be. I love that he’s giving us epic movies.

I'm an 80s kid so Tom Cruise has always been a part of my life. If I had to pick a role I think he should have won the Oscar for, where he was actually nominated, it would be Born on the 4th of July. Phenomenal. I think the reason he hasn't won one yet is because he makes it look so easy, where with other Oscar winners I can usually see the gears turning in their performance, and especially so with Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot. I also think he and Nicole should have been nominated for Eyes Wide Shut in Leading and Supporting respectively with Cruise actually winning. Since Tom has been called the Paul Newman of his generation, I'd love for him to comeback and finish off the Hustler trilogy and win The Academy Award. Honorary Oscars are too little too late. Cruise deserves, if not owed, a competitive Oscar. Another great video! I really enjoy your perspective.

He really is an astounding actor. I hope he either wins an Supporting Oscar in the years to come or an honorary Oscar for his contributions to film. He's like Sam L Jackson & Jim Carrey, his career stands on its own and is legendary in its own right. Plus being an action star at age 60 is impressive. But oooo a SLJ elusive Oscar video would b fun. I cannot believe that man only has 1 competitive nomination

Tom cruise is misunderstood as an actor. Hes a rare case of knowing how to be a star or an actor for each role hes in. The guy cares and he makes nearly each movie hes in better

i feel like he was definitely known as a serious actor for a long time but after his messy divorce with Katie Holmes, I feel like he's relegated himself to strictly doing action-oriented films that made HUGE numbers at the box office which would make it easy for anyone to forget he starred in movies like Born of the 4th of July and Rain Man. Can't say things have been too bad for Cruise tho as the recent massive success of Top Gun Maverick and the fact just saying his name continues to be synonymous with a global superstar actor.

He could win an Oscar for best picture as an producer of an great film one day

Collateral was so underrated! Such a thrilling movie and a huge part is Cruise's performance in it. He sets the pace and tone of every scene he's in. He should've been nominated for sure.

Tom is definitely one of my faves. I adore the Mission Impossible franchise. The Last Samurai was so great. Can't believe he wasn't nominated for the Oscar. Minority Report (2002) is my personal favorite Tom Cruise film. Such a unique Sci-Fi masterpiece

I always enjoyed his performance in Minority Report, and I feel like it’s underrated, in terms of his acting

So glad to see praise going Tom Cruise's way! People don't give him enough credit anymore for the incredibly talented actor he is. Hard to argue with Lewis beating him with My Left Foot (though Born on the Fourth of July was arguably his greatest performance), but I think he should have won for Magnolia. He was absolutely amazing in that film! I 100% agree with you on Vincent from Collateral being his best performance since Magnolia too. He gave an incredible performance in that. I've often thought the same about Cruise potentially returning to drama as he ages. I really hope he does. As much as I love him in action movies, he deserves an Oscar, and the world really needs to remember the level of talent that Cruise possesses.

I actually can't think of a Tom Cruise film I did not enjoy. It's incredible how he stayed the most successful movie star for almost 40 years. The "you complete me" scene in "Jerry Maguire" is one of the most romantic. I also looove the underrated "Vanilla Sky": I can understand that he shifted his career to action movie since he probably earns multiple times the salary of what he would get for other roles. However (though it's hard to believe he turns 60), due to his age the end of his action phase will come and he will shine again in character roles.

magnolia is my favorite movie of all time. Deserved the oscar

I literally was thinking this morning ´Brian Rowe should talk about why Tom Cruise doesnt have an Oscar´. I kid you not

I feel like Cruise will be a prime candidate for a Lifetime Achievement Award years down the line. He seems pretty comfortable doing what he does now, and that primarily means that not only won’t he get a competitive Oscar, he probably doesn’t really want one. As for his nominations, Born on the Fourth of July was a great way of showing that he is a talented actor and not just a pretty boy, he just happened to go up against Daniel Day-Lewis’ best performance of his career. Jerry Maguire is my favorite performance of his, but if you look back, there was no stopping the Geoffrey Rush train. And Magnolia… yeah, he should have totally won for that. Hell, EVERY performance should have won for that EXCEPT THE PERFORMANCE THAT DID. All four others are ICONIC, but Cruise definitely had the edge as a previous nominee.

I honestly think his work in Maverick was brilliant. I don’t know about Oscar worthy, but definitely worth some attention at awards ceremonies. I also feel that his role in The Last Samurai was one of his best. The way he depicted his ptsd and how Nathan is haunted by his past transgressions is just brilliant character work. So was Caffey in A Few Good Men as he went head to head with Jack. I hope that we’ll get some more dramas in the future.

Who cares about being a part of ‘the club’….. he’s well loved by the fans, by people purchasing movie tickets. People love Tom and his talent. He makes great movies and great characters. 🎉❤

He was considered to play cliff booth in once upon a time in Hollywood. I feel that if he got that role he would’ve been awesome and probably would’ve won an Oscar for it just like Brad Pitt did.

10. Rock of ages ( i know it's not a good movie but his role was totally different) 9. Rain man 8. American made 7. The last samurai 6. Colleatral 5. Maverick 4. Tropic thunder 3. Jerry 2. Born on 4th July 1. Magnolia

I personally think his best performance was in Eyes Wide Shut, but then I'm a Kubrick fan. If he wants to win an Oscar, I think he needs to take on a similar role: not a hero, not a uberman of some sort, but just an ordinary man trying to figure things out. He needs to be vulnerable again.

Risky Business, Born on the 4th of July, Rain Man, Magnolia, Jerry Maguire, A Few Good Man and so many others were high caliber films of Tom Cruise but I think one the best performances on screen I've seen was "An Interview with a Vampire." Man Tom Cruise really disappeared in that movie. All I saw was Lestat. His version of Lestat will never be beaten by anyone.

Cruise should have Won the Oscar for " Born of the 4th of July" .. BRILLIANT Acting!!

I remember the Oscars doing their worst to ignore Top Gun: Maverick...

Thanks for posting this excellent video. Brian, you are a real pro! I liked Cruise's performance especially in "Born on the Fourth of July."

I would say he has a good chance to win if, as an elderly actor, he ever stars in a drama as a man with dementia or something like that. But really, I think what’s keeping him from winning- besides the fact that he’s mostly doing action franchises- is Scientology. I genuinely dislike him because he is the most powerful person in Scientology after David Miscavige. So many people have suffered horrifically because of that scam “religion,” while he sits atop them all on his Scientology throne. If I were an Academy voter, that would make it very hard for me to vote for him no matter how brilliant his performance might be. And also, he’s given quite a few cringe worthy interviews where an unsettling hostility seethes through. I’ve heard so many people saying they think he’s nuts and not just because he jumped up and down on Oprah’s sofa. Likability is a major factor in winning Oscars.

I absolutely LOVE your content and these elusive Oscars videos! Would you possibly consider doing a video on Renee Zellweger's long journey to Winning her Oscar for "Judy"?

The cider house rules getting in for a best picture nomination (and best supp. actor win) over Magnolia, The talented Mr Ripley and being John malkovich still doesn’t make sense for me...

Tom Cruise and Glenn Close should be given Honorary Oscars. If Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper does not win in the future, they should be rewarded also.

Following are the movies he should have won him an Oscar 1. Magnolia 2. Born on 4th of July 3. Jerry Maguire 4. Eyes wide shut 5. Collateral 6. Risky business 7. Top gun maverick...... c'mon.

Great footage of Tom's career. I personally didn't like "Born on 4th of July" but I was too young when I saw it. I had this perception of Tom being this non-talented Ken doll until 1996. I was 19 then & I started to see his acting from an adult point of view, though I had seen other of his 90s movies on the big screen. He was so good in "Interview with the vampire" but he was overshadowed by Nicholson in "A few good men". 1996 was a pivotal year for him and he should have won for "Jerry Maguire" but then again the academy doesn't go for comedic roles, JM is a comedy/drama with tints of rom-com. I must say, the large majority of Tom's movies I own are from the last 20 years. His action years, exception for "Tropic thunder". Stiller miraculously transformed Tom into a comedian! I think the main reason he never won and never will is most members of the academy don't approve of his Scientology fever. Clearly he's retiring from action leads now that's he's filming the last Mission Impossible and probably will turn into more dramatic roles but I don't think he has a chance at the Oscar and he does not care either. He just returned his Golden Globes after the Globes controversy. He doesn't care for awards; he's a movie star. He cares about entertaining audiences, which doesn't seem to be the goal for many filmmakers now 😔

I think his best shot for winning was BOTFOJ as he was arguably at the height of his popularity, and working along side Stone who bagged Director. Although I think his best performance was Magnolia, but that year saw a wide open race featuring so much variety, and I think Magnolia was the odd one out in terms of the films that year in that category. I suggest you make a video on that race. You had the veteran Michael Caine, Cruise in perhaps his strongest performance, Michael Clarke Duncan with such a unique and powerful performance, Jude Law as a breakout star, and finally Haley Joel Osment, 11 years old and in a supernatural thriller. Maybe the most diverse lineup ever in that category - so much to choose from and not a single weak performance. Also I forgot to mention Rain Man. He arguably gave a better performance that Hoffman did, as he had more range and had to guide us through the film, whereas Hoffman was more of a one note performance.

After yesterday... This video now just makes even more sense...

I had never seen Tom Cruise as a good actor. He had never convinced me, but I think his best performance was in Magnolia. You truly forget he is Tom Cruise in that film.

Tom Cruise should have at least been nominated for Collateral. That’s his best performance to date, in my opinion, as Vincent is quite a departure from the many roles he’s played before and since. Of course Jamie Foxx playing Ray Charles in Ray would have been hard to overcome, I think the same could be said with Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in The Aviator also being nominated the same year, it may be hard to see Cruise coming out on top had he been nominated for Best Actor in Collateral, though perhaps he would have been better suited in the Best Supporting Actor category despite the argument being made that he was the co-lead with Foxx who got demoted to supporting like Al Pacino did when nominated for The Godfather, but it would have been nice to see him being acknowledged for his incredible performance in Collateral, a pretty underrated film quite honestly, especially compared to other Michael Mann films such as Heat. I’ve gotta feeling Cruise will win someday. He’ll be older and maybe give a better performance than he did in Collateral. We’ll just have to wait and see if and when he gets a fourth Academy Award nomination and who his competition would be.

Love or hate him and the Scientology scam, he is a fantastic actor and never disappoints in the cinema....

Loved him in "collateral". He should have at least been oscar nominated for that film. It was a great performance. 👍

I love/hate relationship for Cruise. Although he doesn't make me feel comfortable (I wouldn't say I 'don't like him' as such - I just can't get on board).... but he is so many wonderful films and performs amazingly. He's a very talented gent! Imagine if he got a nod for Maverick and won?? That'd be quite sweet.

Tom Cruise You Are an Óscar Yourself. I LOVE You.

I would’ve probably give it to him for Magnolia. He was due for a win around this time frame with nearly two decades of good work. The role in Magnolia is pretty ridiculous, but so are a lot of roles that win. Caine is the better actor, but I didn’t care for his accent in CHR, which annoyed me. Caine is adored in the industry and deserves his two Oscars but they’re for the wrong films lol. He did his professional best in Hannah but I always saw that one as a career award, the same with CHR. Day Lewis was totally deserved over Cruise. Geoffrey Rush I would say less so over TC nomination for Jerry Maguire. Rush swept everything in sight that year. That would’ve been a good year for a best actor tie. And Gooding Jr. ends up winning for playing the fool and a catchphrase.

He should have, at least, been nominated for A Few Good Men...

Born on the 4th of July is fantastic and cruise performance is one of his best but Daniel Day Lewis was spectacular in my left foot, it was a hard choice for oscar voters

Amazing vídeo! Love both performances, but My win that year would go to Julia actually, for closer

He is an amazing actor. He deserves an Oscar because he is the best in everything. I adore him and his movies❤

Do a video on how Aaron Johnson won the golden globe but got snubbed

Tom should’ve really won for Magnolia

Oh heck. Florence, SC. That’s when he was filming Days of Thunder. Darlington Speedway is down there.

I’ll tell the movie he should have been nominated for, Rain Man. Michael Caine said he carried that picture.

I like Tom Cruise as far as it goes, but in the vast majority of his films, he plays Tom Cruise (or some variation on Tom Cruise). For me, an Oscar-worthy performance requires transcendency. I haven't seen that from Cruise... ever. Is he capable of it, yes... but is he willing to do the work and risk it all... probably not.

To be honest, I feel like he should have gotten a nomination for Top Gun: Maverick. The scene with Iceman was one of the best scenes of that whole year.

Please do Kirsten Dunst and the elusive oscar ❤️

He should have won for magnolia! He is mesmerizing in that movie.

Personally, love his movies. However, I don't ever watch a Tom Cruise movie and think WOW - I couldn't even recognize Tom in that movie, he became the character! I always see Tom Cruise playing Tom Cruise.

It’s quite simple really - Scientology.

Rain Man was in Original Screenplay and I think Magnolia was the film I think should have won him his Oscar, I think Michael Caine's win that year for The Cider House Rules was both a career achievement award (he already had an Oscar for Hannah And Her Sisters) helped out by Miramax's heavy marketing machine and is not one of the best remembered Oscar wins.

❤Tom Cruise IS an Óscar Hero.❤

I know no one will ever win for a straight up action movie (Marisa Tomei did win for My Cousin Vinny so you never know) but shit man Tom Cruise has some amazing performances. I’m a huge fan of the first Mission Impossible. He has a couple of roles something like Magnolia where he is great and the movie has some great moments - but I’m not big on the movie. Rain Man also - but roles in movies like The Last Samurai, Minority Report, Collateral - that’s 3 right there where Tom Cruise is just amazing. Top shelf.

Excellent in born on the Fourth of July

Cruise tends to play arrogant young men who are very talented. I don’t think the Academy Awards are going to award him for things that are so close to his wheel box. The roles he did get nominated for had a whole lot more dimension to them.

There is the 1000 pound elephant in the room with regard to Cruise; you did't mention it nor will I. With the possible exception of Jerry McGuire there has always been something between the actor and the role that has been off putting for me. Did you see the original Vanilla Sky?

I've often felt Cruise has been regarded as a star more than an actor, and I don't think it's a fair assessment--although in most of his films, as good as his acting is, he brings all his "Tom Cruise-isms" which are great--but he rarely submerges himself into a role. Yes, "Born on the Fourth of July" and definitely "Magnolia" (agreed that he should have been a contender for Oscar for this one.) I suspect Cruise--if he EVER allows himself to age!--will evolve into a Clint Eastwood in his older years, shedding his leading man/action hero persona and developing more complexity and depth in his roles. An Oscar is coming for sure. Personally, while I guess it was a "flop," I LOVE "Far and Away," and both his and Nicole Kidman's performances.

"His days as an action movie hero where he runs and runs...and runs...and runs can't go on forever, right?" 🤣🤣🤣 You'd be surprised. But yeah, I am really looking forward to a future where Tom Cruise takes on more dramatic roles. He is long overdue an Oscar. I refuse to believe his career will end without a golden statuette.

i think he might be given an oscar for lifetime achievements

Another important note for Cruise’s chances at winning an Oscar for Born on the Fourth of July; Tom Cruise was in his twenties and would have been the youngest winner in the Academy’s history for the Best Leading Actor category, which historically does not award young actors. He was a few years away from his thirties. It wasn’t until more than a decade later Adrien Brody won the award at 29 years old, and is to date the only Best Leading Actor winner who won in their twenties.

He should have won for Collateral!

He should'very been nominated for Vanilla Sky and Tropic Thunder

He's probably the last real Hollywood star

He s been doing a million sequels lately

Isn’t it a funny coincidence he lost all three of his Oscar nominations to British actors? The first two loses being towards British actors making their American/international breakthrough idk it’s just something I didn’t realize until watching this 😂😂😂

His best performance was in that South Park episode where he was working in the candy store.

This might be a bold statement, but I’ll say it: Tom Cruise is the last true Hollywood superstar. He’s someone that you can look at his movies and say “that’s a Tom Cruise movie”; you can’t really say that about any other actors maybe directors, but not actors. And that’s because whenever he’s in a movie, he’s the soul of it. And yeah, the man is terrific and can really pull off great performances.

Movie stars go for box office, actors go for awards, each profession has a different objective.

Would I love about cruise every oscar loose he made a huge summer movie the same year he just moved on.

I can see him taking an old man role or something like that can get him one. He’s supposed to be making a dramatic movie after MI 7 part 2 comes out.

I think Tom Cruise is too big of a star and too successful commercially that he doesn’t get taken seriously by the academy voters. I also think his Magnolia performance was fantastic and totally Oscar worthy.....but that year he was up against Michael Caine who was overdue to win, and had a role/performance that was very likeable and moving.

Tom Cruise, in Risky Business made me gay. Ha! That pink shirt, the socks, the dance. Whoa! He should have won for Magnolia, and I had hair like his character. But, Cruise in Minority Report is outstanding. Eyes Wide Shut, not my favorite, but Collateral was awesome.

I love Daniel Day lewis and he deserved his Oscar for There will be Blood & Lincoln but I'm one of the few people who thinks he should have won for Born on the Forth of July instead of Day Lewis for My Left foot. However the biggest snub for me was for Magnolia and what makes it worse is that Micheal Caine had already won for Hannah in her sisters so to give it to him for Cider House rules was just cold. i'm hearing this top gun sequel is great so maybe he finally will win for that but that's a long shot considering this movie is coming out so early in the year & isn't meant to be a oscar contender but you never know

I really think jerry Maguire and magnolia were definitely performances that he derserve to win and he was in favour but always lost to .

Far and Away is a good movie.

Please do Johnny Depp next

I hope the rumors that Tom will be in Tarantino’s last movie are true. It would be great if that resulted in the Oscar.

None of his performances warrant an Oscar, in my opinion. There was always someone else whose performance totally deserved it over his. I've always felt that even his most dramatic performances felt somewhat hollow and that the character wasn't fleshed out. I feel like he really attacks his roles with too much intensity that it leaves no room for subtle nuances.

I don’t think it’s much of a mystery, the kinds of movies he makes just don’t win acting awards. I should note that I’m Gen Z so I mostly know him as that crazy guy who does all his own stunts in the Mission: Impossible movies, of which I am a fan, especially that first movie. In all seriousness, Cruise is probably one of the last great movie stars. I mean, Robert Downey Jr. is a popular actor, but do people really show up to see a Robert Downey Jr. movie the way they would a Tom Cruise or back in the day a Schwarzenegger, John Wayne or Cary Grant? Also, one of my favourite facts is that his full name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV.

American made is a very good movie.

seems like he'll win won eventually.... I thought he was great in the vampire movie honestly. cool vid

Cruise was outshone by Hoffman in Rain Man but Cruise was actually just as good as Hoffman I always felt he was robbed for his performance

He should have won for Magnolia. Who even remembers the Michael Caine role now, ugh. Maybe you’ll do one on John Travolta.

He should have won for BORN ON 4TH OF JULY

I don't think the scientology connection has done him any favours

he does not need an oscar, he won them all in scientology

I feel like the Academy is a little freaked out about the whole Scientology thing.

No one except maybe Depp or Pitt ( sorry Leo) has his range..and even they are not on his level of consistency

I will never not be OK with him not winning for Magnolia. In fact, anyone could have one that night and I would’ve been happy except Michael Caine. I don’t care for Cider house rules, but I also think that Caine is nothing special for me. Haley Joel or Tom Cruise would’ve been PERFECT…I understand the politics and all the stuff behind the scenes that for me magnolia is magnificent

He's a jerk, i bet he still mad nicole kidman is everything of a respected and awarded actor he wanted to be

Born on the Fourth of July should've nabbed him the Oscar. Stiff competition that year?

Teleport him to Mars!!!

He should have won for magnolia he was robbed. Cruise doesn't need an oscar anyway he is one of the biggest movie stars in history. Hes been at the top for 40 years and still to date is considered one of the biggest movie stars still churning out huge movies with no sign of him slowing down yet. When you consider that Al Pacino was never awarded an oscar for portraying micheal corleone widely regarded as one of the greatest performances in movie history that tells you all you need to know about the credibility of the Oscars.

Remember these things are all political there’s a lot of money that changes under the table. The award simply doesn’t mean what it portrays to mean politics and money.