OK. Now most of you will never understand just how truly difficult it really is to get a star of the Walk of Fame. I mean the heavy lifting, both emotional and physical, it’s pretty labour intensive work, it’s really the dirty work, not for the faint of heart. Well, its work that’s sort of fit for a bricklayer, and I’m talking about you Simon, yes, many of you probably don’t know that Simon used to be a bricklayer for a brief moment, and that he parked cars at a beach resort, and spent a couple of months flirting with the idea of becoming a nurse while at medical school, and the only flirting he did there I’m sure was ...um ... anyway...

 

The truth is, he was really not going to have any of that, his heart was set on becoming an actor. So he had to get the dialect down and get to the U.S., and take on his toughest challenge yet. Like all of the rest of us Aussies, he arrived cap in hand to Hollywood, he was just another hopeful, but he worked hard. Those years of heavy lifting really paid off, and he focused that determined energy that I know so well, on doing his best and pursuing his dreams. And Simon’s dreams, I can say for real, are of the purest kind, he doesn’t have a cynical bone in his body. He wanted to act because he had a real depth and an inner story to tell, but like any rational young man he had a seed of doubt. So, as always, he turned to Rebecca, "what shall I do with this seed?”. Suffice to say, Stella, Claude and Harry soon followed after.

 

I’ve known Simon for more than 20 years, and I joke about his back-story, his bricklaying days, his attempt at nursing, and a few dodgy TV shows back in the day, but when I first met him I was just struck by his charisma, I’ll never forget it. My great friend Rebecca told me that she had a new boyfriend – what?, this was really going to run some interference with my friendship. I took one look at him, "OK Rebecca, I’ll share .... you”. Well, come on, I was sure it was going to be fleeting, we were all so young. This was the best looking guy anyone had ever seen, and hardly ever seen without a surfboard in his clutches, how and why would a man like that be interested in having a relationship, at 22 years old. Well this is what made Simon different. He wasn’t just interested in rolling around in his twenties, oh – rolling through, I mean, sorry, come what may, he wanted everything and that included a proper marriage and a family plus the brilliant career, and he made it all happen.

 

So, you really know you’ve made it when hordes of strangers are crushing you underfoot every day for the rest of eternity. Congratulations Baker, I am so happy for you, the truth is that if there’s anywhere anyone is OK about being crushed underfoot, it’s on Hollywood Boulevard with their name in one of those puppies. I’m so honoured to be here sharing this celebration with you, it’s seriously, I mean, old mates they count for a lot, and being here today will cost you [counts on fingers] ... quite a few. Really this is such a great moment and I’m so happy to be here with Rebecca and your family, your beautiful family, here’s to many more decades of heavy lifting, and congrats on cementing your name in Hollywood Boulevard for ever. I love you.