Lea Salonga gets her Hollywood star

LOS ANGELES—Lea Salonga made history on Friday when she became the first Filipino to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The star on the storied boulevard in Tinseltown is the latest accolade for Salonga, whose many honors in her 45-year career include being the first Filipino to win the Laurence Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for “Miss Saigon.” She is also the first Asian to win a Tony in that category.

In the late morning ceremony held in front of Pantages Theatre, Salonga was cheered by a crowd as she received the 2,855th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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The Broadway icon drew laughs during her speech as she playfully acknowledged that fans would soon be stepping on her star. “Feel free to walk on me,” she joked.

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Sibley Scoles, an Emmy Award-winning sports and entertainment journalist whose diverse heritage includes Filipino, Black, White, Spanish, and Native American roots, emceed the program attended by Salonga’s fellow talents, creatives and industry executives, relatives, friends and fans.

Darren Criss, Brandy and Ming-Na Wen were among the artists who delivered remarks saluting Salonga. Filipino American Criss is Salonga’s fellow Tony Award winner—he won for “Maybe Happy Ending” in 2025.

Breaking barriers

Salonga and Criss, the first artist of Filipino descent to win a Golden Globe for Best Actor in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” in 2019, have performed together in concerts and events.

“It’s about time!” exclaimed actress Dolly De Leon via private message to this writer about the unprecedented honor given to a Filipino talent. The actress, the first Filipina to earn a Golden Globe Award best supporting actress nomination for Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness,” was one of the talents who graced Salonga’s Hollywood ceremony.

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Aside from both being in the voice cast of “Forgotten Island,” Salonga and De Leon starred in “Request sa Radyo,” a Manila adaptation of the play “Request Concert” by Franz Xaver Kroetz in 2024.

Salonga, in a purple pantsuit, began her speech at the podium by quipping with humor, “I have walked down this street many times. I’ve stepped on a lot of famous people, and now people get to step on me, which feels strangely appropriate for show business. I love a full circle moment.”

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Reflecting on her career as a Filipina who broke barriers, Salonga said, “There are so many extraordinary Filipino and Asian artists working today, telling our stories, playing roles we once could have never imagined being offered and creating new opportunities for future generations. That means an enormous amount to me. I hope that someday, a young Filipino kid comes to Hollywood, sees my name, and thinks, maybe I can get here, too.”

Celebrating a legacy

Wen collaborated with Salonga to bring to life Mulan, the popular title character of Disney’s 1998 animated classic. Salonga provided the singing voice while Wen performed the speaking voice.

Wen, who received her star on Hollywood’s famous thoroughfare in 2023, is also noted for “The Joy Luck Club,” “Street Fighter” and the series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Brandy, honored as a Walk of Fame inductee earlier this year, and Salonga recently performed together in a duet of “A Whole New World” at the “Disney Princess: The Ultimate Concert Celebration” last month at Disney California Adventure.

Criss, who wore a barong Tagalog, said, “Today, we are celebrating a hard worker. Lea and I both had fathers who served in the Navy, and as such, I think we both know that one does not make it from Manila to Hollywood with a resume as prolific as hers, simply on talent alone. She is a devoted acolyte of the craftsmanship of performance.”

Wen praised Salonga: “I’ve seen you fill huge venues all by yourself, like the rock star you are. But you’ve also found the time to open doors for young artists all around the world and have contributed to many humanitarian efforts. Your real legacy lives in the people you have inspired, the performers who found courage because of you, and the millions of fans who found joy in your music and the communities who see themselves represented in your success.”

A place among legends

Brandy, for her part, said, “Before many people knew how to speak about representation, Lea had already turned it into sound. Her voice told millions of children, you are not outside of the magic. You are within it. You are a part of it long before Hollywood knew her name, a 7-year-old girl in the Philippines stepped on stage. Her voice crossed oceans … conquered Broadway, made her the first Asian woman to win a Tony Award and made her a Disney Legend.”

Other attendees included H.E.R., Pops Fernandez, “Forgotten Island” directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, and Vincent Rodriguez III.

With the honor, Salonga joined stars immortalized on Hollywood’s popular sidewalk, which include Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Mickey Mouse, Tom Cruise, Paul Newman, Charlie Chaplin and Johnny Depp.

Salonga’s star is about a mile from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the heart of Hollywood, but its location in front of the Pantages Theatre is appropriate since the venue is the home of musicals, for which she is primarily known. The 55-year-old artist was nominated and honored in the category of live performance.

Live performance is one of the six categories from which nominees for the honor can be chosen. The other fields are motion picture, television, recording, radio and sports entertainment. Some icons have several stars on the boulevard, including Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney and Roy Rogers (four stars), Frank Sinatra and Danny Kaye (three stars).

A committee of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame and that other landmark, the Hollywood sign, selects about 24 to 30 new honorees each year from hundreds of submissions. The Manila International Film Festival nominated Salonga.

Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, said in a statement, “The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is proud to welcome Lea Salonga to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Lea is a true trailblazer whose extraordinary talent and decadeslong career have inspired audiences around the world.

“We are thrilled to honor her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and especially proud that she will be the first Filipino 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.”

Disney cosplay, Filipino finest

Mara Ongkeko, one of Salonga’s many fans who trooped to Hollywood Boulevard to witness and cheer the star’s historic moment, said, “People lined up, wearing a mix of Disney cosplay and their Filipino finest, as early as 8 a.m. To pass the time, the crowd joined in to sing her single “Nandito Ako” and “Reflection” from “Mulan” in perfect pitch.

“It inspired the DJ to start playing music earlier, including some of Lea’s singles, such as ‘Dream Again,’ sparking huge cheers from the crowd.”

The Walk of Fame recognition is the latest honor for Salonga, whose steady rise began in the Philippines when she made her theatrical debut at age 7 in “The King and I.”

This writer remembers first seeing Salonga in person when she was a 10-year-old in pigtails, performing songs from her first Gold Record album, “Small Voice.”

Salonga, who writes the regular Inquirer column “Backstory,” also made history as the first Asian actress to play both Eponine and Fantine in “Les Misérables,” among the color-barrier-breaking feats she achieved after making a splash in “Miss Saigon.”

As the singing voice of Mulan and Princess Jasmine in 1992’s “Aladdin,” Salonga was officially honored as a Disney Legend in 2011.

Trailblazing continues

Over several decades, Salonga blazed the trail for Filipino artists as she performed in the most venerated concert venues in the world, from Carnegie Hall to the Royal Albert Hall, and starred with top names in plays, TV shows, films and musicals. She sang for world leaders, including the late Queen Elizabeth II and several US presidents.

In her latest credit, Salonga voices the Dreaded Manananggal, a vampire who is the main antagonist in Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado’s “Forgotten Island,” a DreamWorks Animation movie that’s groundbreaking in several aspects. It’s the first film by a major Hollywood animation studio that’s set in the Philippines, taps Philippine folklore and mythology and has a mostly Filipino voice cast.

Salonga is also in Los Angeles to promote the film, whose voice cast includes H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Manny Jacinto, Jenny Slate, Dolly De Leon, Amielynn Abellera, Ronny Chieng and Kristin Villanueva.

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Next year, Filipino American performers Jo Koy and Nicole Scherzinger will be among the Class of 2027 members who will get their turn on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. INQ