From the Blvd: Hawke, Hemsworth, and Ali

Welcome to Wednesday’s Stories from the Boulevard. I’m currently working across the street from the Chinese Theatre and stumble upon Hollywood events and personalities rather frequently. In fact, there are so many things going on that I’m actively looking for ways around them instead of seeking out events (and consulting locals who live in the area on how to do this).

But, these events are an extreme part of my life right now and can’t completely be avoided… and some of you might actually be interested in the crazy, chaos that is Hollywood’s biggest tourist attraction. So, consider this an accidental record of what’s happening on Hollywood Boulevard…

Chinese Theatre

Normally, in the mornings the Theatre is free and clear of people and scaffolding (tourist tip for those who hate throngs of people). Except on the morning of Jan 8th when workers worked for a portion of the night to get the walk set-up for Ethan Hawke’s mid-day arrival. It was his turn to get his feet and hands added to the cement of the Chinese Theatre amidst gads of media mongers and fanfare. I wonder how people can get themselves on the list of press releases for such events… so I know which way to walk for lunch.

Skip to the evening when Chris Hemsworth was in town for the Premiere of Blackhat. I happened to be passing in an Uber on my way to The Addiction Bistro and snapped the photo below. I wonder what the process is for requesting a “Press Pass” for premiers… it’d be kind of nice to use my fancy camera to photograph people.

I love photographing people because portraits are all about the relationship between the person behind and in front of the camera. It’s really difficult to get interesting photos of stars because there’s no relationship between the two. How do you build that rapport quickly in an anonymous situation? I doubt that’s even possible.

Star of the Week

This week’s star is Muhammad Ali, who has gotten a “Motion Picture” star on the Walk (as opposed to athletic recognition). His star is the only one in Hollywood that is not on the ground. The condition for adding (determined by Ali himself) was that his star is on a wall and not on the ground. He did not want people walking on his name.

It is difficult to find the star (as of Jan 2015). It’s just inside the arch of the Dolby Theatre, on the right behind the construction. You can still find it, but you need to know exactly where to look.