HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Christian Slater received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after five decades in the business.
The 55-year-old “Heathers” star reflected on his many years in the entertainment business while accepting his star on the Walk of Fame, telling Fox News Digital fame “is always weird.”
“It’s tricky. There’s cameras everywhere, you’re really a lot more under the microscope than you were, so it’s got its fair share of challenges to deal with,” he explained. “Fame is always weird. It’s always a weird thing, and right now it feels like a nice level. I mean, this is humbling. It gives me the opportunity to be thrilled and also walk all over myself, so I think it’s great.”
While fame can be a strange road to navigate, Slater said he feels “very lucky that I get to do something that I truly love to do” and that he hopes his love for his career creates a “snowball effect” which continues to bring him “the opportunity to work with better and better people and just have more and more fun.”
During his speech at the ceremony, Slater reflected on his long history with Hollywood Boulevard, the famous street the Walk of Fame is found on. He explained that his father lived there when he was a kid, adding that he later performed at the Pantages Theater with Dick Van Dyke and even learned the skateboard on the boulevard when prepping for his movie, “Gleaming the Cube.”
WATCH: CHRISTIAN SLATER SAYS ‘FAME IS ALWAYS WEIRD’ AFTER GETTING STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME
“I remember walking around this street and seeing the names of the actors, the movie stars, on the ground and I never thought or dreamed that I would have my own,” he said.
He later added, “My heroes are Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Jack Nicholson, Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart and too many others to name, and they all have delivered some incredible performances and all have stars on this boulevard, and to be able to share some space with all of them is an honor and a dream come true.”
WATCH: CHRISTIAN SLATER REFLECTS ON HIS DECADES-LONG CAREER IN HOLLYWOOD
Sarah Michelle Gellar also reflected on Slater’s performance as she paid tribute to him during the ceremony, calling his performance as J.D. in “Heathers” as one that “defined the GenX counterculture,” adding that she had “more than one Christian Slater poster hanging in my teenage bedroom.”
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She then went on to praise his performances in “Pump Up the Volume,” “True Romance,” “Dr. Death,” “Dear John” and “Mr. Robot,” adding that “not many actors can claim to have been culturally significant across four decades.”
“Most actors can only dream of having a career as long as yours, Christian, and the most amazing part of it is that you continue to redefine how we see you,” she said in her speech. “You are an actor with multiple legacies who will feel like just as fresh of a discovery to teenagers watching you for the first time 20 years from now as you did when I first saw you. All of this to say, fair is fair. The honor is richly deserved a dozen times over.”
WATCH: SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR IS HAPPY TO CALL CHRISTIAN SLATER A FRIEND
While reflecting on his many years as an actor, Slater called receiving a star on the Walk of Fame “a wonderful ending to a chapter of my life,” which still has many more chapters left to go, and “a highlight and something I will treasure for the rest of my life.”
He also took the time to thank all the people in his life “who truly love me and I truly love,” including his children and his wife, Brittany Lopez.
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“When you talk about having a partner and someone on your side on this journey of life, I couldn’t have gotten any luckier and I couldn’t be any more grateful for what you have brought to my life. I feel safe, I feel loved, I feel cared for, I feel seen,” he said. “Having a star on Hollywood Boulevard is great, but none of this would have been possible without my family and the love I have in my life today.”
WATCH: SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR DETAILS CHRISTIAN SLATER’S IMPACT ON HOLLYWOOD
