Getting in a Tiff

I've never been interested in celebrities. The grand exception to that rule is writers. But most of the time, I don't even know what they look like. When I meet them in person, though, I'm a slobbery mess. For example, here's me, my daughter Hilary, and author Will Ferguson, at the writer's conference in Calgary last year.

I'm not comfortable with movie and TV celebrities. I like movies. I like TV, but I've never felt the need to investigate a star's private life, or meet them in person. Will Ferguson, in the meantime, refuses to drop his 'cease and desist' case against me and, 'must stay 100 feet away from at all times,' court order. Really, Will. I've read all your books. Doesn't that make us friends?

So, when I was in Toronto for the film festival, there were a few times when we accidentally on purpose sat in a restaurant beside the venue where Vanity Fair was conducting interviews. We were right beside the window, and so help me God, I surprised myself. Jesse Eisenberg walked past about a foot away. I left my seat and rushed onto the sidewalk, almost running into him. We stared at each other for a long moment, me stunned, him looking around for his bodyguard, and then I turned around and went back to my seat. When we left the restaurant, a bunch of celebrities came outside, one after the other. My friend Lorna was able to get a beautiful selfie with Melissa McCarthy, but here is a reaction from Viola Davis. 'Must get away from kooky lady,' is my interpretation of her body language. 

This also applies to Julianne Moore

Who did this with another person immediately after spotting me.

Was it my look of desperation? I'm not certain. But the celebrities walking away got a lot faster once I was spotted. Were they calling to warn each other? I'm not even interested in you! is what I want to tell them, but there's something compelling about seeing a famous person on the street that you've just seen in a movie the night before. 

My friends, Lynn, Lorna and I had to get used to it, because there were a lot of stars in Toronto during Tiff. 

We attended a rally where one of the speakers was Geena Davis. Since we arrived early, we stood right in front of the fenced area below the stage, directly behind the press. As more and more people arrived, the bars around the reporters kept getting pushed in until it looked like a very small pen for large, well dressed and uncomfortable looking animals. Here we are, and here's Geena.

 A good time was had by all three of us, and the thousands of others also in attendance. And I learned something about myself as well. It turns out, I'm just as star struck as the next person. And being an actor is not for the faint of heart. Especially when I'm in town.