Ewan McGregor was praised as "the best Jedi Master" as he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Recalling their first meeting on the set of 'Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones' in Australia in 2002, Hayden said: "I walk into this room where I'm told Ewan is going to be, and before I can even put eyes on him, I hear his voice. And he exclaims my name with more enthusiasm than I think I'd ever heard it spoken with before.

"I turn and I see him, and then he's coming at me, and he just gives me the biggest hug. Like, just the most disarmingly warm embrace.

"He's just beyond kind to me, and it was immediately apparent to me that I was meeting someone truly special. Not just as an actor, but as a person, and that I was meeting a friend."

Ewan - who plays Obi-Wan Kenobi in the franchise - then laughed as Hayden said: "A friend who would later go on to chop off both my legs and leave me for dead on the side of a volcano, but I guess I kind of had that coming."

The Canadian star expressed his belief that seeing Ewan, 53, as Obi-Wan over the years had been a "masterclass in great acting".

He added: "To watch him embody this character, it's like watching magic. And the best kind of magic - not the kind that involves any like trickery or sleight of hand, but the kind that really makes you believe in something bigger. Because he wasn't just playing Obi-Wan, he was Obi-Wan. I mean, he is Obi Wan. And I really hope we get more Obi-Wan, because this man is just 'Star Wars' gold...

"So, my friend Ewan, I want to thank you for being the best Jedi Master that anyone could have ever hoped for. You always had my back and I thank you for that. I'm just so happy to get to be here with you right now. It's been an honour and a thrill to get to work with you, and swing a lightsaber with you, and more than all of it, call you my friend. I love you, brother."

Ewan - who was joined at the ceremony by wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead, their three-year-old son Laurie, and Clara, 28,Jamyan, 22 and Anouk, 13, three of his daughters from his first marriage - praised Hayden in his own speech.

He said: "We've grown up in this crazy world together over these last however many years - it's been too many, 20, 30 years, and I love you so much."

The 'Trainspotting' actor - whose other daughter, 22-year-old Esther was absent due to her own filming commitments - felt particularly "moved" that his star is just feet away from late 'Star Wars' icon Carrie Fisher's own spot.

He said: "I'm so moved that I'm close to my old friend Carrie Fisher, on the pavement here.

"That means a great deal to me too."