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Betablue's 2009 TIFF Experience
Toronto International Film Festival
11 September 2009
by Betablue
An intrepid fan interfaced once again with her idol on the red carpet outside the premiere of Perrier's Bounty at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.
We got to the Ryerson around 4:15 and walked right past the ticket holders' line to the passage between the theatre building and the building to the east. Besides Roy Thomson Auditorium, I'd say it's the second-best place in the festival village for a red-carpet premiere: it's wide enough for the carpet and for good-sized spaces for the press and for gawkers, there's quick access to the street, and the whole thing is covered over in case of bad weather.
Random note: Brendan Gleeson is tall. I mean, TALL. Usually actors "lose" height off-screen; if anything, in my eyes, he seemed to gain stature. And he's very friendly!
Now on to Cillian: he's reed-like and very light on his feet. It's as though the soles of his shoes are an eighth of an inch off the ground at all times. He talked to the press on the west side of the carpet, and then he turned to the public fence, at the end farthest from where we were, tucked up in the south corner, and started signing autographs. One thing I'd like to know is who that big dark-haired guy is, the one in the blue shirt, who seems to be on handler duty. I've seen him with Cillian now, in 2009, in Toronto, and at the 2006 TIFF as well, and in London, too, at events nights following Love Song. He comes off as protective but not smothering, he moves efficiently, he's observant, and he and Cillian seem to get along well.
Anyway, the pictures. I'm actually a little embarrassed by the red-carpet shots. There he is, he's coming closer, and I was snapping away on my camera. When I took the extreme close-up, my friend was actually hissing, "Psst! Psst!" right next to me. (As in "Psst! Psst! He's right here, idiot!") I guess I got caught up in the moment.
So I put down the camera and said, "Hey, there, buddy."
At first he frowned a bit. "Hey—" Then he smiled. "Hey, how's it going?"
"It goes," I said. "How're you?"
"Fine, fine."
It wasn't a big thing. It was just a moment. He had to move along; I wasn't part of the press corps. He drifted off, toward the fence-break that admitted the celebs to the Ryerson. My friend turned to me and said, "You happy now?"
"Yeah, I'm good," I said.
