Legendary Hollywood and video game actor (long live Tommy Vercetti) Ray Liotta was honored with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today in a rainy ceremony that featured Elizabeth Banks (who directed Liotta in his final film Cocaine Bear), and Liotta’s daughter, Karsen.
Liotta has a long and storied history in Hollywood, appearing in classic films like Goodfellas and Field of Dreams, among countless others. The actor passed away in his sleep at the age of 67 in May of last year. His star sits at 6201 Hollywood Blvd, and it’s the 2,749th star added to the boulevard.
Banks previously told Variety that Liotta was the only actor she wanted to cast in the buzzy film.
“He really left an impression on me. I love the opportunity that I get to give actors to show other sides of themselves or to have a little more fun maybe than people are used to seeing. I knew Ray had a little twinkle in his eye and a little mischievousness about him that we could use to great effect in Cocaine Bear.”
Banks went on to say that she was still shocked the movie was coming out and Liotta wasn’t there to celebrate, but said “his spirit is in the movie.”
“He came really joyfully to do this, I don’t know, dumb movie about a bear high on cocaine. I mean, it kills me, but he’ll be remembered for lots and lots of things — and he’ll be remembered in our hearts for just being a great guy on set.”
Lupita Sanchez Cornejo, Chair of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, emceed the event and spoke about the actor warmly.
“Today, Hollywood posthumously honors Ray Liotta,” she said at the event to cheers and applause. “Let me tell you a little about our honoree. With more than 60 feature films to his credit, Ray excelled at diverse and challenging roles in both comedy and drama.”
Actor Taron Egerton also appeared at the ceremony. “I didn’t know Ray for a long time,” he said, “but the time I did spend with him was very important to me. The best actors have always understood that to depict the most important relationships in life, it’s necessary to break down barriers and create intimacy as quickly as possible.”
Egerton went on to say Liotta was very adept at this sort of thing.
Liotta was actually filming a movie called Dangerous Waters when he unexpectedly passed in the Dominican Republic. For those interested, there’s a livestream of the event available online.
Cocaine Bear is in theaters now.
