Be Thankful
And there is only one, Laurence "The Fish" Fishburne. Fierce. Thank you so much for being here, Laurence Fish. For your kind, gracious, over-the-top words.
Your support, your love. It has been an honor and a privilege to have the chance to work with you. And I'm so grateful for your friendship, mentorship, spirit, soul, and wisdom that you share with me.
I am so grateful. Thank you man. You are amazing. You are the best of the best.
Laurence Fishburne. To the TCL Chinese Theatre, it is a great honor to be here and to be invited to this remarkable, historical, magical place. To be included amongst all of the incredible artists who have made their mark here over the past 92 years, to be a part of this Hollywood tradition started by Sid Grauman all those years ago, and which continues to this day, I thank you. I thank you very much.
To Lionsgate, I thank you for your support and the opportunity to be here. Thank you Joe, and to all involved at Lionsgate, I'm very grateful. And to be on the forecourt, in the front of this legendary movie With John Wick?
With John Wick? That is so, you swore, fucking awesome. I mean, I love John Wick, man. I love John Wick.
And to you the director and our visionary of the film, Chad Stahelski. To you Ian. Where are you Lance? Where. Laurence, Halle. Where are you Mark?
Mark, Asia. To the producers, Basil, Erica, thank you. To David, the co-director of the first John Wick. The only way I am here is working with artists and people such as yourselves.
I am not Without working with such talented, beautiful artists and people. The only way I am standing here is to have worked with such beautiful, wonderful artists in the past. I have, been a part of some films that have been embraced, and I am very grateful.
They have changed my life. They have given me life. They have provided life.
And I am very grateful to the people who have enjoyed these films. Without your support, I am not standing here. Actually, most of the people who are standing or sitting here are not here without your support.
Thank you. I started acting when I was 15 years old in Toronto, Canada, and I traveled in my first car when I was 20 years old across the country to Los Angeles, California, to Hollywood. With a dream. That dream. A dream I share with, I am sure, so many here, with so many here, and probably with most, if not all, of the artists memorialized and celebrated in this remarkable place.
The dream to be in pictures, to be in movies, to be in films, to be in cinema. But first, I had to get an agent. Or a manager, and in my case, it was a manager, Irwin Stoff.
Irwin, without all of your belief and support, without all of what you did for me, I would not be here. Literally, I would not be here. So thank you. I am forever grateful.
And then Irwin introduced me to an agent. Not just any agent, but a spectacular agent in a person, Hildy Gottlieb. Hildy, I thank you for believing in me and giving that kid a chance, an opportunity for opportunity.
I will be forever grateful And I'd like to thank my agents who are here today. Meredith, where are you Meredith? Meredith, where are you?
Hello, Meredith. Chris, and Keith, thank you for being here and for all that you do for me and for helping me to continue to have a career. And to my agents in the past, Kevin, Jimmy, and Patrick, I thank you. I thank you very much.
I want to thank my stepfather, Paul Aaron, who as a director shared with me his world of the theater and film, who inspired him to dream and train as an actor, and provided the opportunity to get in that car and have a safe place to land, to start.
I want to thank all of the artists, teachers, agents, friends I had the opportunity to work with, to learn with in Toronto, especially Rose Dubin, who oversaw the theater program at the JCC where she created what was a haven for young artists to learn, where I had the chance to play Mercutio at 16, and where, and where I was seen by an agent and so started my professional career and my love of Shakespeare.
I want to thank my friends who are here today. Claire, where are you? Josh, Robert, Janine, Alexandra, and Cheryl.
Cheryl, hello, Cheryl. Cheryl, I love you. I love you all. Thank you. Thank you.
And I want to thank my mom, who, when I said to her when I was 15, "Is it okay if I'm an actor?" She said, "Do whatever you want to do, darling." And so it began.
I love movies. Gosh, I love movies. I love watching them and I love making them. It is an honor to be here today to celebrate in this Hollywood hallowed ground, pictures, movies, films, cinema, with all the artists who have made their mark here of the past, the present, and the future, and with you.
Thank you. Now let's go play in some cement
