TIFF 13 - Day 5 & 6 - Meeting Scarlett Johansson, Michael C. Hall, Daniel Radcliffe, Saoirse Ronan, Jennifer Morrison, Melissa George, Ralph Fiennes & more

Day 5 started off fast for me.

Getting into Toronto, I immediately went to the press conferences. Once getting there I saw Maria Bello go in & she promised the couple dozen people there she would sign on the way out. Shortly after Richard E. Grant showed up to do press for "Dom Hemingway" & signed for several people asking him. Emilia Clarke, & Jude Law arrived after, neither of them signed. The other star of the film Madalina Diana Ghenea did, and I got 2 photos done that my friend gave me the night before to try & get done. Shortly after, Maria Bello came back outside & signed for everyone before she left. On the way out of the presser, Law again didnt sign, and Clarke did the same thing she always seems to do, ignore everyone. This got a rousing boo from the majority of the fans & regulars that were there who realize its a low class move to not sign & meet fans at an event where your sole job is, promote the film. A TV camera for CP24 was there to catch her getting booed, whether or not they ever showed THAT on the air, I dont know. What I do know is, her people WHINED to TIFF about it, as the next day the security there came over & told some people there was a complaint made about the booing.

A long stretch of bad luck, timing followed me for awhile. I I headed over to the Elgin to get Ralph Fiennes. Unfortunately, I was greeted by 100s of fans waiting there....not for him, but for Taylor "I'm a celebrity mattress" Swift, who was making an unscheduled appearance at a film she had a song in. Instead of a few dozen fans being there for Ralph, there was now 100s, and most had no clue who he was. Ralph didnt exactly make it easy either, as he signed MAYBE 5 autographs total. So, still needing the In Bruges star to finish off an item I got signed the day before by Brendan Gleeson, I went around back in hopes he would duck out earliy, as most stars do. No such luck, 1 thing I didnt take into account, he was directing this film. So he stayed for it all.

This constituted me standing in the same crowded corner for about 3 hours as other autographing opportunities passed by around the city, including right on the other side of the building as the mattress signed for her delusional fans, and then the stars of the 9 PM film that followed Fiennes were showing up as well.

The star of Ralphs film "The Invisible Woman", Felicity Jones came out & happily signed. Short while later, Raph did the same, and I managed to get both photos I wanted done, done. A lot of waiting for 2 autographs, but I felt someone relieved to get him. By the time I left that pit, it was already 8:45 PM & I looked & figured only premiere I MIGHT have a chance at was Scarlett Johansson. But I had a new problem, serious strain in my knee & thigh was making me walk gingerly. So whatusually is a 12-15 minute walk seemed potentially longer. I battled through it, eventually making it there ina  pretty reasonable 25 minutes, and found a spot for ScarJo easily enough, despite the entire street being 2 deep already.

Once Scarlett showed up at the Princess Of Wales Theatre for the premiere of "Under The Skin", she walked to 1 end of the line & started signing & didnt stop till she got almost to the other end. Her guard/handler made things easy for her by constantly grabbing items out of the crowd & holding them for her to sign. This meant each item got a bit more of an autograph than most celebs slap down on red carpets, usually resembling a bastardized version of their initials.

Still sore, and unsure how bad my knee/thigh problem was, I ditched on the rest of the night. Earliest I think I've ever finished a night at TIFF.

Day 5 - 9 autographs - 64 total

A  Scarlett Johansson
A- Maria Bello
B+ Felicity Jones
B- Ralph Fiennes
B- Madalina Diana Ghenea
F  Emilia Clarke
F  Jude Law

Day 6 of TIFF was my 2nd highest total for autographs of any TIFF day ever... and I still feel I didnt do as well as I should have.

It started off in the morning, missing a press conference for a Julia Roberts film. I got there in time though to grab a couple autographs from Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard. She was there promoting "Blood Ties". After that, came a long gap of fail.

It would be several hours before my next autograph opportunity.

After seeing Brendan Gleeson snub several fans at his a hotel that I staked out after a lunch break, after a tip from a buddy telling me that there was a chance to get people there (I knew people stayed there, but assumed from the look of it, it was going to be impossible to get people....turns out, I was wrong)., Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch came out & signed for the people waiting. A bit later, Eli Roth came out & did the same. Nicolas Cage came out twice to to a growing crowd & both times, too the time to sign & meet everyone. I got the Con Air & Kick Ass star to sign several items, although he didnt put much effort into the 2 wavy lines he scrawled on most items. I also saw Keanu Reeves, who didnt sign 1 whole autograph before leaving. His "Man Of Tai Chi" co-star Tiger Hu Chen, who signed everything that was asked of him.

Shortly after, True Blood star Ryan Kwanten signed 1 for me, and I suddenly felt like I should wait there for awhile.... but I had a premiere coming up that I wanted to go to. So I took off from there after seeing the likes of Daniel Radcliffe run in & Michael C. Hall come out & deny the growing crowd.

At the 2 premieres that were starting at the same time across the street from each other, I managed a whopping 0 autographs between them. Michael C. Hall ( I didnt even wait for Daniel Radcliffe) went in without signing anything at his, I then went to a premiere  Scarlett Johansson was at, in her 2nd premiere of the fest. She signed some, but far less than the day before & skipped my item, twice. After ScarJo went in, I went back to the Hall/Radcliffe one & found them deep in the press pit & took a few photos of them working the line before they headed into their premiere of "Kill Your Darlings". Hall may have eluded me this night, but I would get another crack at the "Dexter" star later on in the fest.

Back to the hotel I went to kill a little time, and while there I managed an autograph from Golden Globe winner Jessica Chastain.

I then headed over to the Elgin/Wintergarden theatres for back-to-back premieres.

First up was a "How I Live Now" with Saoirse Ronan, and she signed, a much shorter autograph than the full namers I had gotten from her multiple times before. Some of the regulars took off as soon as she stopped signing the 1st time, and missed her coming back out from the photo pit to sign for fans across the street. I managed a couple more autographs there.

A bit later was the premiere for "Felony" and I managed a handful of autographs from its stars Melissa George & Joel Edgerton. An added bonus was that of Edgerton's "Warrior" co-star Jennifer Morrison, taking a break from filming "Once Upon A Time" in Vancouver to visit Toronto & see some films. I also saw the films other stars Jai Courtney & Tom Wilkinson go in, but I had nothing for them at the time.

I attempted to help a friend get Al Pacino during my downtime at a non-TIFF event, which didnt turn out well. It was, without a doubt, 1 of the craziest, most idiotic displays of fans losing their fucking shit that I've ever seen. Even as a grizzled veteran who has endured crushing mobs against rails & flavour of the minute boyband crowds, Pacino fans had them beat by a mile for being borderline braindead.

The insanity & pure spectacle of seeing grown ups practically wrestling each other for a scribble, and I do mean a scribble, was a sad statement on the celebrity culture, and an even sadder example of humanity. The professionals in the crowd were oddly enough, outdone by regular fans who made the terriblly unprepared exit of Mr. Pacino quite literally, unsafe.

After the Scarface star bolted past me (I was right near the door) I got the fuck out of there in fear of possible physical harm. These were not normal fans. These were mentally damaged wannabe gangsters with the IQ of a bruised turnip literally pushing, shoving & likely elbowing each other for a glimpse of a man they just saw on stage for 2 hours.

After that stupidity, I hung around at the back end of the Felony premiere, and managed a few more autos from Joel, Melissa & their co-star Jai Courtney for a buddy before I headed back to Hamilton for the night.

Day 6 - 22 autographs. Total 86

A+ Melissa George
A+ Marion Cotillard
A+ Tiger Hu Chen
A  Saoirse Ronan
A  Jai Courtenay
A- Al Pacino
A- Jennifer Morrison
A- Jessica Chastain
B+ Nicolas Cage
B  Joel Edgerton
B- Ryan Kwanten
C+ Scarlett Johansson
D  Keanu Reeves
D  Tom Wilkinson
F  Michael C. Hall
F  Daniel Radcliffe
F Brendan Gleeson

You can find my "day 3" report HERE
You can find my "day 4" report HERE