Michael Given A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Today Michael was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to celebrate his achievements in film. His family and Scarlett were there with him and here is his speech!

"I wanna thank the Hollywood chamber of commerce for this great great honor. I wanna thank my fans. None of this would be possible without all of you. You guys are the ones who see my films and gave me the support that has lasted me throughout my career. I thank you for this. Speaking of my support, I have to thank my parents, who are both here today. In fact today is my dad's birthday, so big round of applause for him. Dad, you are the reason I fell in love with movies. I remember growing up and going with you to the movies. You would always take me to see the latest James Bond film or some cool new action film, whether it was Jurassic Park or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I remember in 2000 when we saw Gladiator, I think I was a sophomore in high school and walking with you on the way to the car in the parking lot after the film, I said to you dad, 'man it would be cool to be in a movie like that'. And I'll never forget, you said to me, 'well then go do it'. You always gave me the confidence to accomplish anything I set my mind to. To my mom, haha, it hasn't always been an easy ride with you, but I love you. Our relationship has been a complete 180 over the years and now I am so proud to call you my best friend. Your the first person I call when something good or bad happens and your love and support has meant alot. Back when I first wanted to pursue acting you told me, I got one year to 'make it' or else I have to study real estate and get a job at Dad's real estate company. I said to you, 'mom, it takes some actors YEARS to make it'. And you said to me, 'well then you better hurry up then'. But it was your tough love that always made me stronger even when I didn't see how, and I thank you for that. 

I want to thank my two older brothers Tony and Joe, who are also here. Tony growing up we weren't always that close because you were so much older than me and Joe but when you came around you were always a blast to be around and as we have both gotten older you have given me so much wisdom that I take with me in my life that I will always cherish. You've always supported me in my dreams and goals and I thank you for that. Joe, growing up with you...wasn't easy, haha. Whether it was the times you made fun of me for listening to the Backstreet Boys, made fun of me for the way I dressed, made fun of me for not getting enough girls, the time you asked me if it was okay for you to have sex with a girl I had just broke up with, or the time you rolled me up in a sleeping bag and shoved me down the stairs, or the time put a sock in my mouth and punched me causing me to lose my first baby tooth, haha. You gave me all the big brother bullying experiences that Tony wasn't around for. But it wasn't until our first real fist fight when I was 15 or 16 where I actually hit you back for the first time that I gained your respect and from that point forward we became real brothers. Some of my best movie going experiences came from tagging along with you and whatever girlfriend you had at the time to the movie theater. When I was 10 and you were 17 we saw James Cameron's True Lies together while on a family vacation in Virginia during the summer of 1994. We had to buy tickets to Jim Carrey's The Mask and then he had to sneak me in because True Lies was Rated R and since he wasn't my guardian I wasn't technically aloud to go in. We went anyway. We saw so many movies that way. It was great! As you can tell whether it was my dad or Joe taking me to the movies, someone in my life was always showing me the world of cinema and how these stories and adventures could take you away to another world. And for a shy kid like me, the youngest in a family of alpha males, maybe somewhere deep down inside I needed these experiences, these movies, to show me the man I was always destined to become.

I wanna thank my best friend James Franco. In high school I saw all the attention he was getting from girls for acting and I thought, 'Man, that acting stuff doesn't look so hard, maybe I should do that', haha! I wanna thank my old high school music teacher, Mr. DiPalermo who is here today, please give him a round of applause. He was the one who told me I need to join the school play to bring up my GPA. I hesitated at first since I had never done anything like that before, but it was one of the best decisions I ever made because I found out I had a gift for singing and acting and performing. I would have never knew about those talents had he not encouraged me to take the risk and go up on that stage and make a fool of myself. Thank you for that. I wanna thank my agent Thomas from CAA for putting up with me and my crazy choices and my publicist Ellen whose been with me since day one and never threatened to drop me despite all the messes I seem to make and leave for her to clean up. Thank you for always believing in me and standing by me. I wanna thank Gary Oldman, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Daniel Day Lewis, and all the other great actors in cinema whose films I grew up watching who inspired me to want to get into this acting thing in the first place. I'd probably say it was two performances that made me fall in love acting the most, and they were Val Kilmer's performance as Doc Holliday in Tombstone and Sean Penn's performance in James Foley's At Close Range with Christopher Walken. Watching those two classic films really changed me forever. I pray one day, a film I make, a performance I give, can hold a candle to the standard those guys set in stone and leave a mark on a generation to come. Also, a big thank you to all the great directors, writers, and co-stars I have worked with over the years who have helped me make the work I have been so fortunate enough to be apart of thus far in my still young career. I'll be honest, it feels a little early to be receiving an honor like this, but I'll take it, haha. Hopefully it is a good sign of things to come. It means, somebody, somewhere, some people, believe the work I've done thus far, means something. And that, it turn, means something, it means alot, an awful awful lot, to me.

There was a time in my life where all I wanted to do was act and without acting I felt empty. I have since grown out of that phase but acting will always be the biggest rush I can feel. That moment you lose yourself in the scene, in the emotion, and forget that you are saying lines you memorized on a fake movie set. The moment it becomes...real. That's the high, the drug, the rush, the moment, all actors chase. There was a time where I had nothing in my real life that gave me those feelings, and I needed acting because it gave me the experiences and feelings I was missing in my real life. But now my life has grown and matured and blossomed. I am closer with my family than I have ever been. I have amazing friends I can count on. I have an amazing girl, Scarlett, who is here with me today, thank you for being here. I see you got your star two years ago, now you can't brag anymore that I don't have one haha! Now, to me, acting can be so much more. I want to inspire those who come after. I want to show the world all the emotions and the stories and the experiences that matter most to me. I wish to continue to do great work and help continue a legacy that inspired me and thus pass it on to the next generation and maybe inspire some kid watching this right now, watching my films. Help him to say, no matter what I am going through in my life right now, maybe one day I can do that too. And yes, yes you can. Thank you all. Thank you very much.