Penélope Cruz, Bruce Springsteen Among Honorees at 2025 Academy Museum Gala

Walter Salles and Bowen Yang will also be feted at the Oct. 18 fundraising event

Penélope Cruz (Nico Bustos), Walter Salles (Alile Dara Onawale), Bowen Yang (Andrew Lipovsky), Bruce Springsteen (Danny Clinch)

Penélope Cruz, Walter Salles, Bruce Springsteen and Bowen Yang will be honored at the fifth annual Academy Museum fundraising gala on Oct. 18, 2025. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures made the announcement on Thursday.

The event raises money for various museum undertakings, from exhibits to education initiatives to public service programs for the Los Angeles community. The event’s co-chairs are Jon M. Chu; Common; Viola Davis and Julius Tennon; Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey; Jennifer Hudson; and Academy Museum Trustee Alejandro Ramírez Magaña.

“The Academy Museum Gala is a special evening dedicated to bringing together individuals to champion the celebration, advancement, and preservation of cinema,” Academy Museum Director and President Amy Homma said. “As we gather for a fifth year, we are honored to recognize Penélope Cruz, Walter Salles, Bruce Springsteen, and Bowen Yang — storytellers whose influence has been proven to resonate in film and beyond. We are so thankful to founding supporters of the museum, including our partner Rolex, for their long-standing commitment to cinema, and our co-chairs for hosting this important event.”

Cruz will receive the Icon Award, which “celebrates an artist whose career has had a significant global impact”; Salles will take home the Luminary Award, “given to an artist whose singular contributions have expanded the creative possibilities of filmmaking”; Springsteen will be honored with the inaugural Legacy Award, which recognizes an “artist whose body of work has inspired generations of storytellers and deeply influenced our culture”; and Yang will be given the Vantage Award, for an “emerging artist who is helping to challenge dominant narratives around cinema.”

The Academy Museum also announced a long list of people on the 2025 event’s host committee, including Amy Adams and Darren Le Gallo, Gael García Bernal, Adrien Brody, Nia DaCosta, Danielle Deadwyler, Ariana DeBose, Laura Dern, Colman Domingo, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Demi Moore and Celine Song.

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