Richard Crouse

I’ve been covering the Toronto International Film Festival for 30 of the 50 years of its existence. I’ve dusted off some memories from those years as a personal look back at the fest’s first half century. Entries 41 – 50!

2015: The backstage atmosphere was tense at the “Black Mass” press conference. Dakota Johnson, Joel Edgerton, Peter Sarsgaard, Kevin Bacon, Julianne Nicholson, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane and director Scott Cooper. Were all there, everyone except star Johnny Depp. There was grumbling and annoyed publicists until it was discovered that Depp was late because he was signing autographs and taking pictures with a large group of young “Pirates of the Caribbean” fans outside the venue. Inside when he was asked how it felt to portray a real person like gangster James (Whitey) Bulger he said, “You mean the Mad Hatter never existed? Or Willy Wonka? Are you going to tell me there’s no Santa Claus now?”

2024: Every year there is at least one guerilla style advertising campaign designed to catch your eye. Or maybe Matt Damon’s eye. Last year the producers of a film with a provocative name plastered posters all over Festival Street that read MATT DAMON (then in tiny letters) you are cordially invited to come and see THE PEE PEE POO POO MAN (tiny letters again) at Scotiabank Theatre. You just know Damon’s friends called him the Pee Pee Poo Poo Man for the entire festival.

2014: Sitting next to next to Boo Radley, Bill Kilgore and Tom Hagan, i.e. Robert Duvall who said, about acting, “There’s no right or wrong just truthful or untruthful.” He calls Billy Bob Thornton “The hillbilly Orson Welles…” and said “Brando used to watch Candid Camera.”

2014: After years of watching films at TIFF I finally got to be in one of them! “Red Alert,” the Barry Avrich documentary inspired by his red-haired daughter Sloan’s discovery of a rumor that redheads are going extinct, was my big screen debut but did not result in offers for more movie roles!

2007: Because I must wear a suit every day during TIFF I try to be creative with my ties and socks. When Kenneth Branagh, director of “Sleuth,” saw my wild socks he said, “I admire the sartorial eloquence in your ankle area.” Best dressed review ever!

2015: “Trumbo” star Bryan Cranbston told me, “I don’t want to portray this idea that I’m just about the art. I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich and rich is better.” Also: he said he likes to go up to people wearing the Heisenberg t-shirts he wore on “Breaking Bad” and, in Walter White’s voice, say, “Nice t-shirt,” and I whisper if to them and their eyes go wide and I put my finger to my lips, like ‘Don’t tell anyone… if you tell people, they won’t believe you.’

2003: After he was Chaplin but before he was Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr was “The Singing Detective.” As the titular character in this surreal musical crime comedy, Downey came to TIFF for a round of press. He showed up wearing a floppy hat, I wore a jacket with a subtle snakeskin patterned jacket, or at —or at least as subtle as a snakeskin patterned jacket can be. He liked the jacket, I liked the hat, so we switched and shot the interview wearing each other’s clothes.

2016: In the road trip movie “American Honey” Riley Keough plays a Fagin-like character, tough-as-nails with a glare that could peel the paint off the walls. I asked her what she learned being on the road while making the movie: “I learned not to drink too much. I really think I learned it. Legitimately.” She laughed, perhaps remembering some long nights while making this movie, then added in a more serious tone, “I learned a lot of really profound things, but I don’t know how comfortable I am talking about them.”

2009: Anyone who saw Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist” at TIFF, with its pitch perfect theatre sound, will never forget the scene with the rusty scissor and Charlotte Gainsbourg privates, will never forget the snipping sound which drew a collective gasp from anyone in the theatre who wasn’t rendered completely speechless by the shocking act of self-mutilation.

2025: Celebrity Trifecta Sighting! Saw Richard E. Grant, John Slattery and Judd Apatow do a selfie in the concession line at the Royal Alex!