SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio's most famous filmmaking son was immortalized outside Austin's Paramount Theater on Saturday.
Robert Rodriguez – the 55-year-old writer-director who built a reputation on do-it-yourself bravura before getting his Hollywood bona fides with projects like "Spy Kids," "Sin City" and "From Dusk Till Dawn" – became just the seventh recipient of a Paramount Star, and the first person from the world of film to receive the honor.
He was joined by dozens of fans who packed Congress Avenue on a hot Texas day to celebrate what the city proclaimed "Robert Rodriguez Star Day."
“When you win a filmmaking award of some kind it’s wonderful, but it sits on a shelf," Rodriguez said at the unveiling festivities. "To have an award be a star in front of your favorite theater in the world, I’m just so overwhelmed.”
The unveiling was followed by up a screening of "Sin City" and subsequent Q&A with Houston-born actress Alexis Bledel, who appears in the movie, as part of the Paramount's 50th annual Summer Classic film Series.
Austin is home to Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios, and the Alamo City native has premiered many of his films at the Paramount. He most recently screened an in-progress version of his latest actioneer "Hypnotic" at the venue during South By Southwest 2023, and has continued to be based in Texas even as his stature in the industry has grown.
Other names currently immortalized on the Avenue of Paramount Stars include musicians Ruthie Foster, Delbert McClinton, Lyle Lovett and Jerry Jeff Walker, along with thespians Jaston Williams and Joe Sears. Rodriguez is the first filmmaker to receive the honor, which pays tribute to "Texas artists who have made incredible contributions to Austin culture through the city's historic theatres."
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