Hi, everybody. You know, I love these ceremonies. I remember as a little kid, I used to look at
pictures of Man's Chinese and the premieres they had here in these kinds of events. So, it's a real
honor for me to be here today. As today, we're going to celebrate a great artist, Ben Stiller.
Now I've, you know, Ben and I grew up together. I really, first time I saw him was actually,
he was doing theater in circle in the square. And then over the years, you know, he and I became
very close friends and I was, you know, he's very, he's so generous because when I was doing Mission
Impossible 2, I was looking to do a parody for MTV. So, wanted to call, you know, called up Ben
to see, you know, if he'd help me out with it because he's such a brilliant comedian.
And he and Christine… Where's Christine? Christine, where are you? Hey, they're on
their honeymoon. And he so generously came off his honeymoon to come and help me. I was like,
first of all, Christine, thank you. Because I was always, something I'll never forget,
and I'm sure you won't either. But here's a guy who, he came in and,
you know, because you have this idea to do something, but he came in
and instantly not only was helping to rewrite, but I was standing there and he was directing me.
I was like, you know, give me some notes, you know. What do you think? Is this funny?
And you could see, and I knew Ben is also, you know, he's a cinephile, like I am. He loves
movies. We talk about movies, he honors films. And here he is, you know, Reality Bites is the
first film that he directed. And I always knew that he wanted to direct from early on.
And you see all the range of films that he's directed, you know, with Reality Bites, Cable Guy,
you know, and also another classic, Zoolander, you know, absolute classic.
And then came Tropic Thunder. And I was, had the opportunity to be directed by Ben with
Les Grossman. That was, and to me, that was such a gift to be able to play that
character. And Ben knows, I love his comedies.
You know, I've seen all of his films, you know, Meet the Fockers. You know, I love that. Night at
the Museum. When you look at the range of an artist like this, but also the thing is that
I know Ben and I know what it takes to do what he does, the commitment that he brings,
the love of cinema, the love of storytelling, the love of an audience and entertaining an audience.
And that kind of skill, that kind of talent, I think when you look back and see his movies,
you have no idea how much this man cares.
And not only for his own pride, but the care that he has in terms of entertaining an audience
and the detail and the range of things that he's done. And I think I had the opportunity to see
Walter Mitty and I really, I recommend that everyone goes to this film to see it, because
it is not only a brilliant movie on every level of the writing, the design,
the production, the performances, but it's such a multi-layered movie.
You know, I told him, I said, you know, he and I have often spoke about Billy Wilder.
And of course, I mean Jerry McGuire and that was inspired by the apartment. And I know the
kind of inspiration that Ben took, you know, in making this film and making this film his own,
but it's a movie that really makes you want to go out. And I don't wanna give away the ending
because the ending is magical. But it's a film that at the end of it, you
want to go out and you want to embrace life and know that, you know,
what you do with your life is something that is important. And that the journey is everything.
And I, it's an inspiring film. I think it's a crowning accomplishment for Ben. And I think it's
so appropriate today that he's here being honored, you know, at this historical event.
And I'm very honored to be here to announce him and give it to him. Here's, I'd like to say,
truly a brilliant artist and my dear friend, Ben Stiller. Please come on out.
Hello. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Tom. Wow. This is great.
This is like a weird, surreal dream. I'm here at Chinese Theater. I'm getting
my hand prints in the cement. Tom Cruise is there.
Michael Jordan comes out, does a slam dunk over a Lamborghini. The Beastie Boys dedicate
a song to me and Cheryl Ladd pops out of a cake. That's usually how the dream ends.
Tom, you are amazing. You're an amazing person, amazing actor. You literally
have made most of the iconic movies in the last 25 years. I do think things might have
gone a little differently for both of us if I had beaten you out for that role in Taps back in 81.
I decided to go a little more comedic. And yeah, Tom's right. We met about, we met a long time ago,
but we really got to know each other when we did this little MTV short where I, and I did
leave my honeymoon early. But Christine knows it was raining and there were bugs at the resort.
But I, in the short, I play Tom's sycophantic stunt double who's obsessed with him. And over the
years, we've gotten to know each other. And now I'm proud to say that I'm Tom's sycophantic friend
that's obsessed with him. It's been a wonderful journey, Tom. I know this isn't an award per se,
but I'm gonna pretend like it is for a second because I'd like to thank a bunch of people.
I want to thank all the people who've given me a chance over the years, all the agents
and managers and casting directors who took a chance on me, even when I didn't even
really know what the hell I was doing. And that you had faith in me that I would somehow get it
together one of these days. And I did, I guess, kind of. To all my really close friends and family
who are here, who came out at 11:00 AM on a Tuesday. I know that's not easy. So thank you.
My friend Jud Apatow is here. Yeah. Jud, where are you there? Jud, I feel like it was just yesterday
that we were here shooting sketches illegally on Hollywood Boulevard for our sketch show
that got canceled. And then a little bit later, you and I came running out of this
very theater after the Cable Guy premier, hoping that we would someday work again.
And here we are. I'm sorry. Things didn't work out for you.
I want to acknowledge all the people at Fox who over the years have been very, very loyal.
Jeffrey Katzenbergs been a great loyal friend. Yeah. The people at Fox have been willing to
take very bold chances over the years on projects as long as the PNL models seem to calculate out
to a tolerable quarterly write off. My friend and producing partners, Stuart Cornfeld. Yes.
Stuart, you are without a doubt, the best producing partner a guy could have. And
I would definitely say you are a pretty good friend. My friend and agent Nick Stevens. Nick,
I know that from now on, whenever I call you about a job, you're gonna say you got your footprints in
the Chinese theater, what the hell do you want from me? My mom and dad couldn't be here, but I
did want to say that I want to thank them. I wouldn't be here without the love, support,
nurturing and all the other stuff they withheld from me as a child.
I'm joking. Actually the truth is, I'm joking. The truth is, I couldn't have done anything
without their love and real support. They're two of the most hardworking, talented people I
know. And the example they set for me is one that I've been trying to live up to my whole life. And
actually my dad did want to come out here, but he lives in New York and I said, dad, don't come out
here. You know, I don't want you to come all the way to across the country just for this.
And he goes, no, I really want to. And I said, no,
it's really, it's not necessary. You know, I don't want you to have to do it.
And he goes, no, please, please let me come. I could really use the publicity. I love you, dad.
My wife, Christine, and our two beautiful children are here, Quinn and Ella.
Hopefully this shows you that all the years of not being there for school conferences,
Oboe recitals, birthdays, all of it was worth it because here we are together on Hollywood
Boulevard watching me kneel on the ground, stick my hands in wet cement. And kids,
I really hope you're coming to the luncheon afterwards, would be fun to catch up. Okay.
Honestly though, I'm very, very grateful for this. I grew up in New York dreaming
of making movies. And when I first moved out to LA, about 24 years ago, I lived in an apartment
on Hollywood and LaBrea right over there and I could see this place from there. And
at night when I was lonely, I would walk down here looking for,
just looking, well to come to the wax museum and, you know, go to see movies. But nothing weird.
But I've always loved the history of Hollywood and the history of the movies. It's very, very
meaningful to me. And to be in any way a small part of it is really a dream come true for me,
even though Cheryl Ladd isn't here. So, I'm humbled and I'm touched and I'm very proud
to know that wherever I go and long after I'm dead, my footprints will be here in Hollywood
being stood on by a fake Shrek, posing with tourists for a dollar. Thank you very much.