May 7 (UPI) -- The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal was named Best Hero at the pre-taped MTV Movie & TV Awards Sunday.
"I am a child of MTV. I grew up on MTV, so this means the absolute world to me," Pascal said, holding his golden popcorn trophy in his video acceptance speech.
"The people at MTV told me that 77.5 million people voted this year, which blows my mind and just makes it such an honor. I wish we could all be together, so I could look into your eyes and tell you that all the young people of the world are my heroes and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."
He said he thinks young people deserve to be healthy, safe and have their rights protected.
"I love you. Thank you, thank you!" he added.
Pascal and his co-star Bella Ramsey were also named Best Duo, and their series was voted Best Show.
Tom Cruise gave his acceptance speech for Best Performance in a Movie, while apparently flying a plane.
"I love entertaining you!" Cruise said.
"I know how much you enjoy it. I know how much you appreciate it. There's no better feeling. I hope you enjoy Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part I, which will be coming out in July. It's going to be a wild ride."
Jenna Ortega won for Best Performance in a Show for Wednesday, Elizabeth Olsen earned the accolade for Best Villain for Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and
The live MTV Movie and TV Awards ceremony was scrapped after host Drew Barrymore dropped out to show solidarity with striking Writers Guild of America members.
Most TV and film productions, including talk shows and Saturday Night Live, have shut down since the strike began last Tuesday.
The writers are trying to hammer out new deals with networks, studios and streaming services.
Barrymore did appear as her Never Been Kissed character Josie in a comedic sketch at the top of Sunday's awards show.
Josie was plopped into scenes from nominated shows and movies such as Megan, Top Gun: Maverick, Cocaine Bear, White Lotus, Nope, Smile and Wednesday.
Barrymore, who has an eponymous talk show, also picked up the prize for Best Host.
Throughout the evening, Adam Sandler won the prize for Best Comedic Performance for Murder Mystery 2, and Stranger Things' stars won for Best Kick Ass Cast with Joseph Quinn individually recognized for Best Breakthrough Performance.
The Kardashians earned the Best Docu-Reality Series title.
Ariana Madix, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay, Lala Kent of Vanderpump Rules scored the award for Best Reality On-Screen Team, while White Lotus scene stealer Jennifer Coolidge was crowned Comedic Genius and won the prize for Most Frightened Performance.
"Almost all great comedy starts with great writers and I just think that as a proud member of SAG, I stand here before you tonight, side by side with my sisters and brothers from the WGA," Coolidge said. "They're fighting right now, fighting for the rights of writers everywhere."
Courteney Cox and masked killer Ghostface from Scream VI shared the Best Fight honor. Their film was named Best Movie.
Outer Banks co-stars Madison Bailey and Rudy Pankow won for Best Kiss and the Best Competition prize went to RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars.
"RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars continues to give life to and tell the story of so many queer people and queer people of color and we couldn't be more grateful," Monet X Change said.