‘Very blessed and very grateful and very lucky’ Christian Slater receives Walk of Fame star

A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Monday honoring actor Christian Slater for a television career including a starring role on “Dexter: Original Sin.”

“This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I feel very blessed and very grateful and very lucky,” Slater told the crowd during a ceremony at 6201 Hollywood Blvd., in front of the Eastown apartments, near Argyle Avenue.

The star is the 2,815th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.

“I love this town, and I love this business,” Slater added. “I’ve been in show business for five decades. … I still love it, and I still have fun. I look at my job as something I get to do, not something I have to do.”

“Dexter: Original Sin” guest star Sarah Michelle Gellar and director Michael Lehmann joined Slater in speaking at the ceremony.

Gellar portrays Tanya Martin, chief of forensics of Miami Metro Police Department’s homicide division and the boss of Dexter Morgan (Patrick Gibson), a recently hired forensic intern on the Paramount+ With Showtime prequel to “Dexter.”

Slater portrays the adoptive father of Morgan, a future vigilante serial killer.

“I consider myself incredibly lucky to be on the list of people who have had the pleasure of working with Christian — and honestly just as lucky to be one of the millions who have been moved by and represented in his incredible body of work,” Gellar said during the ceremony.

Lehmann directed six of the 10 episodes in the series’ first season, which concluded Feb. 14. Paramount+ With Showtime announced in April that it had renewed “Dexter: Original Sin” for a second season.

Lehmann addressed Slater directly when it was his turn to speak, saying, “Christian, you are phenomenal. You are amazing. You are a true movie star. You have all the charisma and all the movie star abilities. And you are an amazing actor.”

Slater was born Aug. 18, 1969, in New York City. He made his television debut when he was 8 years old on the ABC daytime drama “One Life to Live” and his Broadway debut in the 1980 revival of “The Music Man.”

He made his film debut in the 1985 action drama “The Legend of Billie Jean” as the younger brother of the title character (Helen Slater, no relation), both of whom become fugitives after a confrontation with a local bully turns violent.

His breakout film role came in the 1988 satire “Heathers” as sociopathic high school student Jason “J.D.” Dean.

Slater’s other film credits include “The Name of the Rose,” “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” “True Romance,” “Interview with the Vampire,” “The River Murders,” “Soldiers of Fortune,” “Bullet to the Head,” “Nymphomaniac” and “The Wife.”

His first role as a series cast member was in the 2008 NBC spy thriller “My Own Worst Enemy,” which ran for nine episodes. He next starred in the 2009-10 ABC crime drama, “The Forgotten,” which ran for 17 episodes.

Slater’s longest-running series is the 2015-19 USA Network thriller, “Mr. Robot,” as the title character, an insurrectionary anarchist.

Other Slater television credits include portraying murder victim Dan Broderick in the second season of the USA Network true crime anthology “Dirty John” and vascular surgeon Dr. Randall Kirby in the first season of the Peacock true crime drama anthology “Dr. Death.”

Slater won the outstanding lead performer in a preschool, children’s or young teen program Children’s & Family Emmy for his portrayal of the ogre Mulgarath in the Roku Channel fantasy series, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” in March.

He also has had an extensive voice-acting career, with roles including Pips in “FernGully: The Last Rainforest,” Slater in “Archer,” Ushari in “The Lion Guard,” Rand Ridley in “Inside Job” and Floyd Lawton and his alter ego Deadshot in the DC animated movie universe.

“I feel like this is a wonderful ending to a chapter of my life, but with many more pages still left to write,” Slater said during Monday’s ceremony. “But this is certainly a highlight and something I will treasure for the rest of my life.”