Tyler Perry received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday, where actors Kerry Washington and Idris Elba introduced the media mogul, as he has directed each of them in movies.
“He is our astronomer,” Washington said (see clip above). “He is tracking the stars and seeing the stars. He’s studying the stars. He is naming the stars. He is knighting the stars and reminding the world that we have always shone bright.”
Elba starred in Perry’s “Daddy’s Little Girls,” a role he credits for flipping the script on being typecast as drug dealer Stringer Bell, whom Elba played on “The Wire.”
“Because of that role, it changed not only my career but it also changed the way I believe that people cast black men,” Elba said. “We are fathers. We are men. We are human beings. We’re not just drug dealers. We’re not just criminals.”
Perry’s is the 2,675th star and it’s located at 7024 Hollywood Blvd. During the reveal ceremony, he dedicated his star to the “underdog” dreamers.
“This one in particular is for the underdogs,” Perry said. “This one in particular is for the ones who want to do it there way. This one in particular is for the ones who want to bring as many people through the door as they can.”
He added, “I’ve been there. I’ve been struggling, I’ve been out, broke, homeless. There was a perseverance, a tremendous faith in God, a tremendous hope that allowed me to keep going.”
Perry is one of Hollywood’s most successful and inspiring filmmakers, with an empire worth more than $1 billion. In the newest issue of PEOPLE, the 50-year-old writer, director, actor and producer opens up about surviving his brutal childhood, forgiving his abusing father and how his faith led him to success.
“I don’t think I ever felt safe or protected as a child,” Perry tells the publication.
