When Lea Salonga’s name was unveiled on Hollywood Boulevard last week, the moment carried a history that stretched far beyond the strip of terrazzo and brass outside the Pantages Theatre.
Salonga, the Tony- and Olivier Award-winning actor and singer, became the first Filipina to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Sept. 4 ceremony marked the 2,855th star on the landmark and recognized her in the Live Performance category.
The honor has also prompted questions online about the $85,000 sponsorship fee attached to a Walk of Fame star. The fee is real, but it comes after—not before—the selection.
The Manila International Film Festival, or MIFF, nominated Salonga and raised the required sponsorship fee, which supports the creation, installation and maintenance of the star. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce selects honorees through its own process; the sponsorship does not guarantee a nominee a place on the Walk of Fame.
The chamber reviews an average of about 200 nominations each year and selects roughly 24 to 30 honorees. Selection criteria include professional achievement, at least five years of work in the nominee’s field, charitable or community involvement and the nominee’s agreement to attend a public dedication ceremony. The selection committee’s recommendations are then subject to approval by the Hollywood Chamber board and the Los Angeles Board of Public Works.
In Salonga’s case, the fee paid for a physical marker, but the career behind it was already well established.
She won the Olivier Award and the Tony Award for playing Kim in Miss Saigon, a performance that made her the first Asian actor to win a Tony Award for a leading role in a musical. She later appeared as Eponine and Fantine in Les Misérables, voiced the singing roles of Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin and Mulan in Disney’s Mulan, and was named a Disney Legend in 2011.
For Filipinos who watched her rise from a child performer in Manila to an international stage star, the Walk of Fame ceremony was as much about representation as recognition.
“Long before Hollywood, long before Broadway, there was Manila,” Salonga said at the unveiling.
That line gave the morning its emotional center. The star is in Los Angeles, but the story it represents began in the Philippines—and has helped widen the path for Filipino and Asian performers who followed.
The $85,000 sponsorship fee is part of the Walk of Fame’s established system. It did not confer the honor; it enabled the installation and upkeep of a star approved through the chamber’s selection process.
For Salonga, whose career has crossed languages, countries and generations of audiences, the distinction is now set into one of Hollywood’s most recognizable sidewalks. For the Filipino community that celebrated the unveiling, it is also a public reminder that a career built in Manila can leave a permanent mark on Hollywood Boulevard.
