The film industry’s premier awards ceremony, The Academy Awards is every actor’s dream. Well, not really. Two major names from the film sphere have floated up who don’t predispose their careers to the historic token of honor. These actors have confirmed that winning an Oscar is not the ultimate for them, and they would regardless put greater effort into their work. 

James McAvoy and Tom Cruise have nurtured a similar understanding of the Oscars. Although the reasoning might be a bit different, their conclusions coincide. Both actors have been recognized with multiple awards besides winning an Oscar. Honestly, they don’t even seem interested. 

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James McAvoy and Tom Cruise steer clear of the Oscars

The 44-year-old actor, best known for his roles in Atonement, Split, and X-Men, once revealed that the idea of Oscar campaigns doesn’t fit in with him. Even though he had attempted to promote Forrest Whittaker’s The Last King of Scotland in 2021, which ended up winning, James McAvoy had learned his lesson. Therefore, when it came to Atonement’s nomination for the Oscars in 2008, McAvoy backed out of the campaigns. He told GQ, 

“But by the time Atonement came along, I was 26 or 27, and I was just like, I can’t do it, I’m not doing it, I don’t wanna do it. “I didn’t want to play that part. I’ll push the film, I’ll try and get bums on seats. But the campaign, I felt… I felt cheap.”

On the other hand, the iconic Tom Cruise had disclosed that winning an Oscar or any award hardly mattered to him. He claimed to have complete confidence and pride in his work, and would not require any external validation. As a result, he even returned three Golden Globe Awards he won in 2021. Although, that was due to a controversy with the HFPA.

Despite landing nominations several times, even for Best Picture in 2023 with Top Gun: Maverick, the 61-year-old actor has never won any. Cruise told BBC, 

“I’ve always felt what I do is extraordinary – being able to make these pictures and doing something you love. So, I’ll just keep doing it. I love it, I don’t do it for the awards.” 

There have been a lot of influences thrown his way, that would urge him to bag an Oscar, but Cruise has remained firm on his beliefs. 

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Other Actors who refused their Oscars

Deep diving into the matter, it was found that some more stars have impressively not held the Oscars in the highest regard. The original Little Women actress Katharine Hepburn had bagged four Oscars throughout her career but never made it to the event except once. She believed the true prize in the film industry was her work. 

Similarly, Woody Allen, the actor who holds the record for 24 Oscar nominations, marked the ceremonies “meaningless.” According to the Los Angeles Times, the 88-year-old actor said, 

“I have no regard for that kind of ceremony. I just don’t think they know what they’re doing. When you see who wins those things — or who doesn’t win them — you can see how meaningless this Oscar thing is.”

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Allen added that he didn’t care about winning an Oscar for 1977’s Annie Hall, implying that several other worthy films deserved it better. 

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