Tom Cruise speaks of ‘stunning’ SA during awards Speech
Tom Cruise speaks of ‘absolutely stunning’ SA during awards speech: ‘I am, because you are’
Tom Cruise was honored with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award by the Producers Guild of America on 26 February.
Accepting the award, the actor stood up on stage and said: “My whole life, I wanted to make movies. I wanted to travel the world. I wanted adventure.” The actor said he’d worked since he was a child, and he’d use the money he made to go to the movies. “I just got back from filming in South Africa,” he added. “It’s an absolutely stunning country. “And there is a beautiful philosophy – it’s Ubuntu.” Cruise landed his helicopter in Limpopo to film the 8th installment of Mission Impossible in February last year, and fans of the star were all too happy to spot him in and around the area. In what became a daily routine, Hoedspruit residents would greet the actor in the morning on his way to work and in the evening upon his return.
After the actor returned to SA in December to tie up loose ends, we caught up with the owners of Qambathi Mountain Lodge – an adult-only boutique lodge and nature reserve nestled in the heart of Kamberg Valley, Drakensberg, in KwaZulu-Natal – to find out more about his stay. At Sunday’s ceremony, Cruise shared more about his “magical” time in SA – more specifically, what he’s learned from locals with regard to the philosophy of Ubuntu. He explained: “It is the idea that humanity is based on the plural, not the singular. Ubuntu means essentially, ‘I am because you are.’ Accepting his award, he said, with a special nod to South Africa: “I thank, I thank all of you. I am because you are.”