James Hong Speech at his Handprint and Footprint Ceremony

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https://www.maximotv.com  Hollywood icon James Hong speech at his handprint and footprint ceremony celebrating his groundbreaking career, his 95th birthday, and the release of his new animation film 'Kung Fu Panda 4' on Thursday, February 22, 2024, in Los Angeles, California, USA. This video is only available for editorial use in all media and worldwide. To ensure compliance and proper licensing of this video, please contact us. ©MaximoTV

Transcript

00:00 [BELL RINGING]

00:02 The moment has arrived.

00:04 Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage

00:07 Mr. James Hong.

00:09 [APPLAUSE]

00:12 [CHEERING]

00:30 I am here.

00:34 Tell you the truth, when I first came here in 19--

00:40 I think it was 1953.

00:42 I lived on-- found a little studio apartment

00:44 on Gower Street.

00:46 And the first thing I did was come here

00:49 and try all the footprints.

00:52 I put mine on top of John Wayne.

00:56 Wow, too big for me.

00:59 Too large.

01:00 Jimmy Stewart, too large.

01:02 But now today, I have my own size.

01:06 [APPLAUSE]

01:11 And I want to tell you that when I planted there--

01:14 and I hope they secure it, because they stole Jackie

01:17 Chan's footprints twice, they said.

01:20 So whomever owns the theater now--

01:24 and it's kind of in question, but I

01:25 hope they own it forever--

01:28 I hope they bolt mine down so that it won't get stolen.

01:32 And that gentleman over there is going to write my memoir,

01:35 so look for that.

01:36 I can't tell you everything today,

01:38 because I was told to make it short, my speech short,

01:44 no more than 2 and 1/2 minutes or three,

01:48 or you will get stiff.

01:50 I didn't know if she was mentioning

01:52 me or the footprints.

01:55 But it'll be planted today, and I hope all the young people--

01:58 I don't have a speech.

02:00 I hope all the young people, Asian-Americans,

02:02 will come here, put their footprints on--

02:05 put their shoe on mine.

02:07 And remember what that means, that I came here on this day,

02:11 on my 95th birthday, because I struggled over 70 years here

02:18 in my city, Hollywood.

02:20 This is my town.

02:22 I was here when I was--

02:24 first movie was with Clark Gable as a soldier, of course,

02:29 on the telephone.

02:30 But that's the way it was--

02:32 a soldier, an evil guy.

02:35 But I do it my best, like David Lopin in Big Trouble,

02:38 Little China.

02:40 I make him a human being.

02:43 David Lopin, have you seen that movie, sir?

02:46 Oh, you haven't seen it.

02:47 Go on, get out.

02:50 Anyway, I only have 3 and 1/2 minutes.

02:53 I think I've spoken for two minutes already.

02:55 So there's really not too much I can say,

02:58 other than what I've just said.

03:00 I like to-- and I have to have a card,

03:03 because I am 95 years old.

03:05 Ellen Kay, the TC Chinese Theater ambassador.

03:15 I got to tell you that I come from the village of Toisan.

03:19 And when they tell that a council member, Martinez,

03:24 has given me a James Holland Day,

03:27 Toisan will be very, very happy.

03:30 [APPLAUSE]

03:34 But I'm sure the villagers will wonder, Chinese theater.

03:37 Where in China is this Chinese theater?

03:40 So it's kind of funny, you know.

03:42 But I'm glad they made this place.

03:45 Unbelievable, this guy had this great idea.

03:48 And of course, my dear friend, the two Daniels,

03:53 who gave me this wonderful speech.

03:56 In a way, I kind of ruined their movie by ad-libbing too much.

04:01 But that's the kind of directors they are.

04:03 They are the best directors I've worked with.

04:05 Why?

04:06 They let me contribute my talent.

04:09 Old time directors, like in Gene Wilder, good director.

04:14 But if I said just something, he would say,

04:16 oh, we've done this before.

04:18 So you're nothing but a sideline actor.

04:21 But here, they contribute what they want to,

04:25 and they augment it by letting me speak my piece.

04:29 So and Lucy Liu, it's unbelievable.

04:34 I've been in two vehicles with Lucy,

04:37 and she looks more beautiful today than the first time.

04:40 I think it was on X-Files.

04:43 Right, X-Files?

04:45 And she handles Mandarin like nobody can.

04:50 And I just cease to amaze at how intelligent she is.

04:54 Because on elementary, when I work with her,

04:58 there she is in front of the camera,

05:00 and they're changing the dialogue,

05:02 and she can remember every change right on the spot.

05:06 There's not many actors that can do that.

05:09 She's intelligent, beautiful, and she has--

05:13 not only that, but the main thing

05:14 is that she flew all the way from New York today

05:19 and came to just to speak in my ceremony here

05:23 that I owe you everything, Lucy.

05:27 Gorgeous woman, isn't she?

05:28 And she can do that kung fu like crazy in that movie.

05:32 Watch out.

05:32 You don't say anything wrong.

05:35 And the immortals, Jeff Chan is the leader of the immortals.

05:39 Are the immortals here?

05:41 Oh, there you are, right?

05:42 The ambassador is Jeff Chan, and his son has taken over Vince.

05:48 Can you raise your hand for Vince?

05:50 He's over there somewhere else hiding, I think.

05:53 Vince, they've been buddies for a long time,

05:56 and they came today to do that wonderful lion dance.

05:59 Let's give them one more hand, the lion dancers.

06:02 [APPLAUSE]

06:04 And let's see, and of course, what can I say?

06:09 DreamWorks made this possible.

06:12 That's the kind of studio they are.

06:14 With Kung Fu Panda 4 coming out, they

06:16 want to celebrate James Hong's birthday on top of it.

06:20 And Margie Cohn, the president of DreamWorks,

06:23 has made this a DreamWork day for me.

06:27 And Christine Lo, I have to read some of these names off.

06:31 And if I forgot something, you can

06:35 say it's a 94-year-old man forgetting everything.

06:40 And Rebecca Huntley, the producer, and of course,

06:44 my director is Mike Mitchell, and co-director Stephen--

06:53 no, Stephanie-- or Ma Stein.

06:57 Can you stand up?

06:58 Are you here?

06:59 Oh, yeah.

07:00 She's going to be a great director for DreamWorks

07:03 and many other companies.

07:04 Thank you for coming.

07:06 You're the Chinese side of the DreamWorks.

07:10 And Christie Loper, the talent coordinator.

07:14 And if I forgot anybody else, please forgive me,

07:17 because I can always use my age as an excuse, right?

07:22 Today, besides today, is my day, the James Hong day.

07:27 When my village in Toisan hears that they have a James Hong

07:30 day in Los Angeles, wow.

07:33 They'll just go crazy in Toisan.

07:36 I can hear the Chinese dialogue probably.

07:39 [SPEAKING CHINESE]

07:41 A day in Los Angeles, California?

07:54 Wow, that's something.

07:55 It is something.

07:57 For this theater, TCL, thank you for honoring me and lending

08:02 me a little square.

08:04 Please don't put me way in the back.

08:07 So aside from that, you know what I mean, right?

08:13 There's little squares way in back.

08:14 You can't even see it.

08:16 But hunt for it when you come into Hollywood.

08:19 OK?

08:19 [APPLAUSE]

08:22 And my daughter, April Hong, she's

08:30 responsible for both of this, coordinating

08:34 with all the people.

08:35 And she's wonderful.

08:37 And my wife, Susan, why don't you come up here, Susan?

08:41 Oh.

08:41 Pictures.

08:42 What?

08:42 We're going down now.

08:43 We're going down now.

08:45 Who says we have to come down?

08:46 I like it here.

08:49 OK, where are we going?

08:51 Oh, we're going to bring up--

08:52 We're going to do pictures afterwards.

08:54 [SIDE CONVERSATION]

08:58 [SIDE CONVERSATION]

09:01, OK?

09:29 [APPLAUSE]

09:32 [APPLAUSE]

09:36 (whooshing)

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