The first two weeks of September in Toronto are amazing – you can squeeze in the perfect end-of-summer moments, enjoy the breezy weather and best of all, take in the glitz and glam of the Toronto International Film Festival! The 43rd edition, which just wrapped Sept. 16, once again hosted world premieres and screenings of hundreds of locally- and internationally-made films. With the movies also comes the actors, directors and industry greats who come to the city to do promotion, walk the red carpet and meet fans.
As a self-proclaimed “professional fangirl,” TIFF is right up my alley. This year’s talent guest list did not disappoint; Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, Hugh Jackman, Viola Davis and Canadian heartthrob Ryan Gosling were just a few of the A-list names attached to films premiering at the fest. With a mix of hard work and good luck, I had the incredible opportunity to meet all of them!
In the end, I came out of this year’s TIFF with almost 100 “photos with.” I feel the need to emphasize how truly awesome so many of these actors are on- and off-screen, so scroll down for my fave celeb selfies and the stories behind them! I also have a few tips on how you can meet your fave actors and directors at future fests.
Chloë Grace Moretz
My first celeb selfie of TIFF 2018!! Chloë has been one of my favourite young actors for years – it’s so weird knowing that we’re the same age! (You go, girl.) She starred in TIFF 2016 selection Brain on Fire, a gripping based-on-a-true-story medical drama. I highly recommend watching it or at least reading into the story of Chloë’s character, Savannah Cahalan – it drives home the importance of believing in yourself and fighting for your rights. Chloë returned to TIFF this year for another thriller/drama, Greta, and I was stoked to see its premiere would be at my university, Ryerson. Chloë was so gracious meeting fans outside the theatre after fulfilling her press obligations. I actually need to give her brother Trevor a special shoutout as he was the one who pulled her away from some demanding autograph seekers to come meet me. So happy with how this turned out!
Timothée Chalamet
This actually wasn’t my first year attending TIFF – I’ve done red carpets for the past three or four years. Ask anyone else who regularly does celeb hunting during the fest and we all have that one “d’oh!” moment when the festival comes and goes and you say, UGH! That actor was right there! Why didn’t I say anything?! Here’s mine: I met Armie Hammer, Timothée’s Call Me By Your Name co-star, by chance while walking from work to the subway two years ago. If I had waited another 10 minutes, I would have met Timothée as well – but nope, silly me WALKED AWAY! Of course, it was only after that encounter that I had a chance to see CMBYN and fall in love with Timothée’s talent. The second day of the fest this year was my redemption as Timothée came into town to premiere the highly-anticipated Beautiful Boy. Not only was he indeed a beautiful boy in person, but Timothée was also a beautiful soul! He promised me a photo as soon as he left a press spot, walked over to sign autographs and as he was being pulled away called out, “Where is she?!” 🙂