Tom didn’t get a Best Actor nomination and…PEOPLE. HAVE. THOUGHTS.
The 2023 Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and Tom Cruise was snubbed for his role in Top Gun: Maverick—despite being on a ton of early prediction lists, including that of The Hollywood Reporter. However! Maverick *was* nominated for Best Picture, as well as several other awards including Best Original Song. But even so, the reaction to Tom’s Best Actor snub was mixed, with some people being v bummed:
Actor Jennifer Connolly had previously told Variety that she believed Tom deserved a nomination for Maverick role, saying “He’s extraordinary. He does an amazing job in the movie. He’s extraordinary as a person and fantastic as an actor, and I think that he is just perfect. He embodies that character so beautifully, and I think he absolutely deserves it.”
She added that “I think that the film is a really well made film and it’s really hard to make a film like that. Also, thinking about Tom’s work, think of the things that he did for that role. Besides all the stuff on the ground and how wonderful he is in those scenes and creating those relationships…I think the relationship he has with Miles’ character is so beautiful and moving. But the work that he did to accomplish those flying sequences, it’s something else.”
Best Actor nominations include Brendan Fraser for The Whale, Austin Butler for Elvis, Bill Nighy for Living, Colin Farrell for The Banshees of Inisherin, and Paul Mescal for Aftersun.
And before we go, FYI that the original Top Gun was nominated for multiple Academy Awards including Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Effects Editing, and it won for Best Original Song (Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”). So this isn’t Tom’s first Top Gun / Oscars rodeo!
