Guillermo Del Toro receives 2,669th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Director Guillermo Del Toro received the 2,669th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.

Del Toro, 54, was presented with the honor during a ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard to celebrate his decades-long career in film. He was joined by fellow director J.J. Abrams and singer Lana Del Rey.

He began his speech by describing himself as "weird" and saying he found hope when he arrived in Hollywood and met people he found to be as weird as he is.

"I think this star is for you, all of you that feel weird, to come over and sit for a moment," he said. "I will spiritually be here for you any time you want to come."

Del Toro, who was born in Mexico, went on to discuss his heritage and dedicate the star to fellow immigrants.

"As as a Mexican, receiving this star is a gesture and no gesture right now can be banal or simple," he said. "This is very important that this is happening right now because I can tell, to all of you -- all immigrants from every nation -- that you should believe in the possibilities and not the obstacles, ever."

Del Rey, who performed a song for Del Toro's newest film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, praised Del Toro's unique storytelling style.

"In a culture of sameness, he's completely himself and that's the greatest lesson I get from all of his tales," she said. "It's a beautiful thing to be reminded that being different is to be celebrated."

Abrams recalled recognizing Del Toro as a "pure genius" early on in their careers.

"You are a mind-bendingly brilliant creator, a multidisciplinary artist, a curator of the most remarkable collection of art -- a man who celebrates otherness and tells stories of unlikely heroes with hearts almost as large as his own," he said.

Del Toro began his directorial career with the 1993 film Cronos and went on to direct other projects such as the Hellboy series and 2013's Pacific Rim.

His 2006 film Pan's Labyrinth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language. Del Toro won awards for Best Direction at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes for his most recent film The Shape of Water, which also won the Oscar for Best Picture.