“This career has taken me to places I never imagined I would go,” she said
Credit: JC Olivera/Variety via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Lea Salonga made history as the first Filipina to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Her career highlights include voicing Disney princesses Mulan and Jasmine and winning a Tony for Miss Saigon
- Brandy, Darren Criss, and Ming-Na Wen attended the ceremony to celebrate Salonga’s groundbreaking achievements
Lea Salonga is a star and has her name on Hollywood Boulevard to prove it.
On Friday, Sept. 4, the 55-year-old actress and singer made history when she became the first Filipina to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
She received the 2,855th star, and the category was of Live Performance.
Credit: JC Olivera/Variety via Getty
“The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is proud to welcome Lea Salonga to the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez said in a statement.
“Lea Salonga is a true trailblazer whose extraordinary talent and decades-long career have inspired audiences around the world,” Martinez continued. “We are thrilled to honor her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and especially proud that she will be the first Filipina to receive this iconic recognition. Her achievement is a milestone, not only for Lea, but for the Filipino community and for generations of artists who will follow in her footsteps.”
One of Salonga’s career highlights is lending her singing voice to the 1998 Disney animated film Mulan as the movie’s main character.
Ming-Na Wen, who voiced the speaking role for Mulan, was also present as a guest speaker.
In addition to Wen, 62, Darren Criss, Gabi “H.E.R.” Wilson and Brandy also showed their support for Salonga.
Brandy made history as the first Black actress to play Cinderella on screen in the landmark 1997 film Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, which was produced by Walt Disney Television.
Credit: JC Olivera/Variety via Getty
In August, Salonga and Brandy performed together during Disney Princess: The Ultimate Concert Celebration at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.
“Lea Salonga’s voice has never been only a voice. It has been a doorway, a mirror, a home,” Brandy said at Friday’s ceremony. “There are singers who reach notes. Lea reaches hearts and souls. Through Jasmine and Mulan, she did more than give princesses their songs. She gave children who had been waiting outside the fairy tale a way inside.”
Credit: Mike Guastella/WireImage
Four years before Mulan became an instant classic, Salonga voiced the singing parts for Princess Jasmine in Disney’s 1992 animation Aladdin, alongside the late Robin Williams as the Genie.
Her Tony Award-winning role in Miss Saigon, her role in the Netflix hit film KPop Demon Hunters, and her work as a judge on the hit Philippines version of The Voice are just some of the accolades Salonga has become known for during her decades in the entertainment industry.
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“I started working when I was very young, and I certainly didn’t have some grand plan for how any of this was supposed to unfold,” she said Friday. “I just knew that I loved doing it. This career has taken me to places I never imagined I would go, introduced me to some extraordinary people, and allowed me to keep doing what I love.”
Salonga continued, “I hope that someday a young Filipino kid comes to Hollywood, sees my name and thinks, ‘Oh, maybe I can get here too.’”
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