Hollywood stars including Canadians Ryan Reynolds and Eugene Levy walked the red carpet Thursday night and dazzled fans at the opening night of the 50th annual Toronto International Film Festival.
In the golden glow of the CN Tower, the night was a tribute to Canadian great John Candy, the subject of the festival’s opening night film, “John Candy: I Like Me,” a heartfelt documentary about the late actor who died in 1994.
“The atmosphere here in Roy Thomson Hall is buoyant,” said the Star’s film critic Peter Howell. “Lots of milling about and chatter. People are here for a good time and they’re excited about the start of TIFF.”
Howell, who met Candy, said the actor “was the same off-screen as he was on it. I met him at a party once and he couldn’t have been more pleasant.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney appeared before the screening and told the audience the festival is an “an unparalleled success story” that also is part of what makes Canada unique. “At TIFF, Canada and the world become one,” said Carney.
Carney said he was a fan of Candy’s after watching SCTV and that Candy brought “humour, humanity and humility” to the screen in roles where he stood up to bullying, and in an aside said “Don’t push a Canadian too far” — perhaps a veiled reference to tense negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The film’s director Colin Hanks and executive producer Reynolds appeared briefly before the screening. Reynolds said Candy’s children and his widow, Rosemary Margaret Hobor were in the audience. Hanks promised “a little gem” for the question-and-answer session that would follow the movie, whose title references a famous exchange in the classic 1987 comedy “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” starring Candy as chatty salesman Del Griffith.
Co-executive produced by Candy’s son Chris, the film is a loving tribute to a father he lost when he was eight years old but got to know better through interviews that Hanks did with Candy’s friends.
The late Canadian actor Graham Greene, who died earlier this week at the age of 73, was also remembered. The marquee lights on the Royal Alexandra and Princess of Wales theatres were scheduled to dim at 9:30 p.m. to honour Greene, who earned an Oscar nomination for his role in “Dances With Wolves.”
The official opening went off without a hitch despite an attempt by protesters at an earlier screening of the Candy documentary to focus attention on festival sponsor RBC, which they accused of funding fossil fuel expansion and weapons manufacturing.
Elsewhere, the Perrier-Jouët was flowing at Daphne on Richmond Street for a party hosted by the restaurant and Deadline Hollywood, according to the Star’s Shinan Govani, with Canadian filmmakers Atom Egoyan and Patricia Rozema in attendance, as well as Canada’s consul-general to Los Angeles, Zaib Shaikh.
Stellan Skarsgård was interviewed by the Star at the Shangri-La on Thursday afternoon, which later served as the site for the official opening night pre-cocktail party.
The nighttime festivities were a contrast to earlier in the day, when King Street West was mostly quiet, with some fans — including Lily Bogdanis, Jonathan Blackman and Reubin Penber-Chapman — lined up since 12:30 p.m. for rush tickets to “Erupcja,” starring Charli XCX, who co-wrote and stars in the movie.
By 4 p.m., a large crowd had formed in front of the TIFF Bell Lightbox, where organizers unveiled a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame for the festival.
“You can always feel it in this city when TIFF starts up,” Mayor Olivia Chow said. “The city is very proud to support TIFF.”
By then, stars had already begun trekking into town, including Elle Fanning and Charli XCX, who were spotted arriving at Pearson airport overnight, according to Govani.
Govani said his DMs were “burning up” with sightings of John Mulaney and Olivia Munn lunching at Cafe Boulud in the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto on Wednesday, and Dua Lipa munching at always-in-style Giulietta on College West last night.
Comedian John Early, in town for his debut film “Maddie’s Secret,” was joined by the full cast and friends including Vanessa Bayer, Kate Berlant, Connor O’Malley and comedian/actor Cole Escola who this year’s Tony Award for “Oh, Mary!”, his play about Mary Todd Lincoln.
Another big-name star in Toronto — Toronto Blue Jays legend José Bautista — joined the ranks of Hollywood celebrities.
Bautista was at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel to promote the Canadian launch of Dominican coffee brand, in which he is an investor.
Bautista told Star reporter Mark Colley that he walked the streets unrecognized until 2009, when he became a breakout star that September with 11 home runs to end the season, and started confining himself to a four-block radius.
