Peter Jackson gets his Hollywood star

Oscar-winning New Zealand director Peter Jackson received the 2,538th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday for a career highlighted by directing monumental achievements "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies and winning Oscars. The Kiwi director was honored with the star placed near Nicole Kidman and Steven Spielberg and is located outside the home of the Academy Awards ceremony and the Dolby Theatre. Peter Jackson also directed and produced the King Kong remake, District 9, Heavenly Creatures and Brain Dead.

Jackson told fans that he first saw Hollywood Boulevard in 1974 when he was 12 years old, on a trip with his parents. "I walked along this street and I looked at these stars and never, ever in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would find myself here today to receive a star," he said. Getting a star is "a message to filmmakers out there that so long as you work hard and follow that dream that can come true just as it did for me," Jackson said. Actors namely Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Richard Armitage, Elijah Wood, Jackson's producer wife, Fran Walsh and writer Philippa Boyens were present at the special event.