Tom Cruise pilots ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ jet during MTV Movie & TV Awards acceptance speech

The “Top Gun: Maverick” actor won an award for best performance in a movie for his role in the 2022 film at the MTV Movie & TV Awards on Sunday, and made his acceptance speech in a pre-recorded video that showed him piloting a plane.

With the golden popcorn statuette strapped into the plane’s passenger seat, Cruise thanked viewers for voting for him and said “I love you, I love entertaining you.”

To be totally clear, Cruise indeed was piloting the plane himself, a Paramount representative confirmed to CNN on Sunday. She added that the plane Cruise was flying was his, and the same P-51 Mustang that he flew in “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Cruise is known for doing his own stunts, and even thanked moviegoers for supporting the blockbuster sequel in a video posted to his verified Instagram last year that showed the actor free-falling from a plane.

Dubbed savior of the movies by Steven Spielberg himself, Cruise concluded his speech on Sunday by saying, “See you at the movies.”

“Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to the 1986 blockbuster “Top Gun,” was the highest-grossing film of 2022 following years of turmoil at the theater brought on by the pandemic, and stands as Cruise’s first movie to reach the billion-dollar milestone.

All in all, Cruise piloting a plane to accept an award gives new meaning to “Top Gun: Maverick” character Rooster (Miles Teller) saying in the film, “It’s not the plane, it’s the pilot.”

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