A combination photo shows actor Tom Cruise dressed in his role as Nazi German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (L) during the production of 'Valkyrie'.[Agencies]

Hollywood star Tom Cruise has won a German film award for his willingness to take risks in his movies, media company Hubert Burda Media said on Wednesday.

The "courage" prize will be presented during the 59th annual Bambi Awards ceremony in the northern city of Duesseldorf on Thursday.

The prize committee said Cruise has pursued brave projects that otherwise would not have been made, including his newest film, "Valkyrie," which details the failed Operation Valkyrie plot to kill Adolf Hitler.

Cruise plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who tried to assassinate Hitler with a briefcase bomb on July 20, 1944.

The German media awards are named after the deer statuette winners receive. The daughter of one of the first winners said the figurine looked like the children's storybook character Bambi.