Confessions of a Superhero

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[wistful music]

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[hair dryer whirring]

(Dennis)

Hollywood is a place

where dreams are made

And dreams are broken.

Everybody and their mother wants

to go out for that lead role.

Sure, a doctor saves lives,

but is he remembered?

Is his--

is he there for all times?

Like people are still talking

about Marilyn Monroe.

People are still talking about,

you know, Elvis Presley.

People in the entertainment

business are forever here.

(Allen)

yeah, it's just like,

It's the money,

and it's the fame.

It's, you know,

that's all what it's about.

Actors now are making, God,

$20 million a movie, you know.

(McQueen)

and it's tough, you know.

It's tough being out here

by yourself

Trying to be this actor,

you know, this actress.

(Dennis)

we're like ambassadors

to Hollywood boulevard,

But at the same time,

We're out there trying

to sell ourselves

To the media,

the public,

Producers,

directors alike.

Hello, citizens.

Welcome.

How are you?

I'm doing

quite super.

[laughs]

Hi, there,

Princess.

(woman)

get a picture

with him.

Yeah, go.

Come on in.

Uh, we do work

on tips, okay?

Okay.

My name

is Christopher Lloyd Dennis,

And I play superman,

Aka, kal-el.

Afternoon, citizens.

For Christ sakes,

put on some clothes.

Oh, that's right.

I'm using my x-Ray vision again.

I was born here in California,

Decided that I was

gonna become an actor,

Because my mother

was an actress.

Can you guys take

a photo for them?

(woman)

yes, sure.

Thank you.

She will take photo.

My name

is maximus "Batman" Allen.

First came out here, it was--

I had no intentions

of becoming an actor,

So it just kind of

came to place.

Yeah, we work on tips,

if it's okay.

It's just--yeah,

whatever you want to tip.

Right here.

All right,

here we go, folks.

All right,

I'll give it here.

My name is Jennifer Gehrt.

Yes, so this is

my insane occupation.

This is what I do.

I put these boots on,

and I go out there,

And I take pictures

with tourists.

Say, "cheese," baby.

Cheese.

(man)

hey, how are you?

Hi, my name's Joe McQueen,

and I play the Hulk.

I was born, originally,

in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

You know, I get, "hey, hey, man,

the Hulk's not a black man."

And I'll be like,

"well, he is

if you're in Hollywood."

Tourism is alive and well

in Hollywood.

I'm Leron Gubler,

president and CEO

Of the Hollywood

chamber of commerce.

The allure of Hollywood

is the magic associated

With the film industry,

the thought that,

"maybe, just maybe,

I might be able to meet

someone who's famous."

Some people used to say it's

the boulevard of broken dreams,

But it's actually the boulevard

of dreams come true as well.

We give out stars

on the walk of fame.

And it's interesting to me

how frequently

The stars who are honored say

That one of the first things

they did

When they came to Los Angeles

was come to Hollywood

And walk down

Hollywood boulevard,

Looking at those stars,

saying,

"someday I'm going

to have a star."

Well, the characters

are an entity,

An issue unto themselves.

There's a place for them,

As long as they don't get

too aggressive.

Our police

work very closely with us

To keep that

on the top of their minds

And to educate the characters

That they are ambassadors

for the community.

(Shea)

difficult?

I would not say it's difficult

working with the characters.

I think I'd be hard-pressed

to say that.

It's annoying sometimes

but not difficult.

Hey, do you know

where the line

Between the public property

and the private property is?

That's it.

That's it.

[Chewbacca growls]

Ah, rrrr, yeah.

You can see there's lines,

But it's these double lines

right in here,

And this is the private property

on this side,

And that's the city sidewalk.

I'm not quite sure

about the DMZ there,

But...

Well, they ought to be thrown

out of there,

And everybody in town

has tried to get them out,

And I hope they see this.

I say "hello" to them

when I go by.

Some of them are dirty.

Some of the costumes

are ridiculous.

Does anyone know

any one of their names?

Are they personally

What the people

are taking the pictures of

Or is it the costume

they're wearing?

I always felt

if I had a superpower,

There's no way

I would wear a costume.

I'm a showoff.

I'd want everybody to know.

I wouldn't wear a mask

and conceal my identity,

And I wouldn't want to look like

an idiot in some costume.

Well, you see,

it's a public sidewalk,

And the theater would like

to get rid of them.

They'd like to get them

out of there.

They're panhandlers.

You know, they come up,

And they pose

a picture with you,

Like, "oh, this is gonna be

for free,"

And then they stick their hand

out and want five bucks.

Uh, we don't work for tips.

We accept tips.

The process

is supposed to--okay?

Go like this:

Would you like a--

picture?

Sure, now, we work on tips,

if it's okay.

How much?

(Allen)

you want just me or--

Yeah.

Okay, here.

(Allen)

as the tourists come up, you--

They have to come up to you.

Okay, that's also a law

that says

You cannot come up to them

and solicit photos to them.

They have to come up to you.

You also cannot name amounts

unless you have a permit.

It's usually

one each.

Okay, and it's usually

fine doing more,

If that's okay.

You can't expect to get a tip,

because a tip is not mandatory,

You know, and nobody

has to give you a tip.

On a bad day,

I will go in.

I'll get out there,

and I'll start working

At, like, 12:
00.

I'll work till 3:00,

and I make about $30.

And I'm like,

"you know what?

I could have done this

at another job."

I got the whole effect.

(Gehrt)

but on a good day,

We're really taking in the crowd

and we have good energy--

'cause that's important--

Thank you, sir.

(Gehrt)

I'll make about $150 an hour.

What's this

tasmanian devil?

Here you go,

sweetheart.

Okay,

I'll see you later.

(man)

can I get a picture of you

by yourself?

Oh, yes,

of course.

(Allen)

it's tips, you know.

Tips, donacion, pourboire--

[speaking foreign language]

You know, pick a language.

[laughs]

Okay.

Thank you.

(Allen)

and like I said, I've been

tipped anywhere from,

God, a quarter--

thank you very much--

To $100--

I mean, one shot.

Me and superman both

got a $100 Bill.

Thank you.

(Allen)

now, hold on.

I got the last one;

this one's yours.

(Dennis)

okay, well, I'll keep it.

(Allen)

okay, as good as one on one,

all right.

I told him, I said,

"you know,

this is not a $1 Bill."

And he goes,

"oh, no, no problem."

"thank you very much, man."

Uh, two.

There it is.

And the next one

is yours.

Right.

Hello, folks,

welcome.

(Dennis)

we can make between

$200 to $300 a day.

And on a really good day,

you could make about $595.

Who's out there?

Okay, we have two Jack sparrows,

Fiona.

There's about three supergirls.

There's three Marilyn Monroes,

Three Elvises,

Pinhead from Hellraiser,

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