Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro receives Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Oscar-winning director Guillermo Del Toro received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, using the platform he encouraged immigrants to follow their dreams.

Los Angeles: Guillermo Del Toro said lies being told about immigrants are being used to create divisions that are "complete fantasies" and that they should be soundly rejected.

"I'm Mexican and I am an immigrant," said Del Toro, who is from Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco. "As a Mexican receiving this star, it's a gesture. And no gesture right now can be banal or simple. This is very important 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."

He continued to urge immigrants: "Do not believe the lies they tell about us."

Toro recalled one of the first times he ever visited the Walk of Fame, when he was working on his first feature film, the 1993 horror 'Cronos.'

He said the U.S. "is in a moment of great fear, great fear and great division, because that's why fear is used."

Later in the ceremony, Del Toro kissed the Mexican flag and unfurled it over his Walk of Fame star, which was met with cheers from the crowd.

Del Toro, 54, is best known for 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'The Shape of Water,' for which he was an Oscar for best director in 2018.

With inputs from APTN