The Stars of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival

Adam Driver, actor (While We’re Young, This is Where I Leave You, Hungry Hearts)

“I think everyone can relate to growing up, leaving home, having experiences, and then trying to make your family see you as this new person. And then being upset when they want to put you in the old role they’re most familiar with.”

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, actress (Beyond the Lights)

“The first time I came to TIFF was last year. I had my parents with me—that was really grounding.”

Douglas Booth, actor (The Riot Club)

“I made an amazing group of friends in the cast. Now when we go out there’s that great camaraderie, but I really hope we’re not as terrible as we act in the movie.”

Miles Teller, actor (Whiplash)

“In the film, I play a first-year at this jazz conservatory. I’ve drummed since I was 15, but I never played jazz. I felt like I was learning to play for the first time.”

Felicity Jones, actress (The Theory of Everything)

“I’ve played a real person before, but it was set in the 19th century, so you’re not exactly worried about what they’re going to say. Jane Hawking [Stephen Hawking’s wife] was very much a part of this film. Meeting someone you’re playing is kind of intimidating, but she and her family have embraced it. I was e-mailing with her daughter yesterday, and she was saying how she is so overwhelmed by it. That means a lot to us.”

Eddie Redmayne, actor (The Theory of Everything)

“With this film, there’s the fear of representing the science correctly, and representing the icon, Stephen Hawking, and his disease correctly. The stakes were pretty high. Fear was definitely the driving force behind my work. I gave up science when I was 12—I studied the history of art in university—so my greatest acting feat was pretending that I comprehended anything.”

Haley Joel Osment, actor (Tusk)

“The film is based on an ad that ended up being a hoax about a landlord who wanted his tenant to be a walrus. It’s nerve-wracking sitting in the middle of an audience and seeing the film, but not only did everyone have walrus masks, but the response was great. Kevin Smith was like, ‘If it was a horse or a chicken, it wouldn’t pass. There’s something about a walrus.’”

Gemma Arterton, actress (Gemma Bovery)

“I have been wearing these heels all day, but I’ve been sitting down most of the time because we screened the film. It went really, really well. It’s a comedy, so we just hoped everyone would laugh. They did.”

Justin Long, actor (Tusk)

“I had hernia surgery a couple days ago, so yesterday was my first day off the couch. Recovery is a process of painkillers and sleep—neither of which I had yesterday. So the screening wasn’t the best for me, but hopefully it was fun for the audience.”

Dax Shepard, actor (The Judge, This is Where I Leave You)

“For eight years, I auditioned for the worst commercials out there. Finally, I booked a Hardee’s commercial where I had to make out with a girl. Back then I used to drink too much, and found myself in physical altercations about once every couple months. The Saturday before the shoot, which was on a Monday, I broke my nose. I still showed up and—shocker—they didn’t want to use me. It permanently changed the shape of my face and cost me what would have amounted to $10,000 in residuals.”

Anthony Mackie, actor (Shelter, Black and White)

“The last time Caitlin shot me was around when The Hurt Locker came out. We’re Facebook friends. Yeah, I’m on Facebook, I be bookin’ like a motherfucker! No. I haven’t checked my page in four years.”

Teresa Palmer, actress (Cut Bank, Kill Me Three Times)

“My son is breastfeeding right now, so he’s here with me. It’s imperative for my family to come along. It’s nice to be able to have both family and work.”

Max Irons, actor (The Riot Club)

“Tonight I’m having a bath and room service and putting the laptop beside the bath to watch a film. Last night, there were no bottles of water, just bottles of vodka. It wasn’t my fault.”

Peyton Kennedy, actress (Cut Bank)

“TIFF is amazing. I’m so excited. Robert Downey Jr. is here. I love Iron Man and The Avengers, so I really want to meet him.”

Dan and Dean Caten, designers

“Normally I’m on the right, and Dean is on the left. Today we flipped it. We’re mirror twins—I’m left-handed, he’s right-handed.” —Dan Caten

Liam Aiken, actor (Ned Rifle)

“I like being photographed by different people under different circumstances. It’s part of what I do. And it’s personally gratifying.”

Sam Claflin, actor (The Riot Club)

“The film doesn’t really reflect that well on my lifestyle. We don’t go around beating up pub landlords or smashing windows, but part of me really wants to do that now just to see if I can get away with it. Actually, I feel closer to the pub landlord than I do to the guys that we portray.”

Caleb Landry Jones, actor (Heaven Knows What)

“This is brandy. Actually, Napoleon is in the flask. We’ve captured him! He is actually this small.”

J.K. Simmons, actor (Whiplash)

“I am not an aficionado of jazz but I’ve always appreciated good music. In college I studied music; I thought I was going to be a classical musician. Instead of Leonard Bernstein, I’m whatever the hell I am. But it was fun to have that background for this part. I had a little credibility with the real guys playing the music while I was out there waving my arms around.”

Holliday Grainger, actress (The Riot Club)

“The cast is a Who’s Who of young British male talent. There was lots of improvisation on set. It felt like a big family collaboration.”

Paul Haggis, writer/director (Artists for Peace and Justice, his foundation, has its annual fundraiser during TIFF)

“I stayed with Father Rick Frechette, who is the keynote speaker at my fundraiser, for a week while he worked in the slums in Haiti. He’ll perform surgery, hear someone’s in distress and hop on the back of a motorcycle and take off across the city; on the way he’ll save someone else, and there will be a dead body on the side of the road, which he’ll pick up and bury. This is in one day. You just try to keep up.”

Julianne Moore, actress (Maps to the Stars)

“[Co-star Robert Pattinson] is one of those people whose affect is so dissimilar to who he is. He has this gorgeous face and he seems like he’s going to be very remote and very serious. But he’s not. He’s incredibly chatty, fun, and smart.”

Robert Pattinson and Julianne Moore (Maps to the Stars)

John Cusack, actor (Love & Mercy, Maps to the Stars)

“Brian [Wilson] was at the premiere, which was really nice. At the end, the standing ‘O’ went up and then turned towards him and his wife, and that’s how it should be. You can’t reduce a human soul to two hours. All you can really do is get to some truth about them.”

Catherine Keener, actress (Elephant Song)

“I lost my voice. I did this play in New York for fashion week for Opening Ceremony that Spike Jones and Jonah Hill wrote. I had a part where I was very yell-y and loud.”

Ben Kingsley, actor (Learning to Drive)

“I learned nothing whilst making the film. Let’s imagine that I’m working with clay. It’s my job to leave my imprint on the clay. The clay, in fact, doesn’t really affect me at all.”

Scott Speedman, actor (October Gale)

“I’ve done many films where I know not to watch them. You make these things for other people to enjoy.”

Elizabeth Banks, actress (Love & Mercy)

“I think everyone is a Beach Boys fan. They’re the greatest rock band that America ever produced. So yes, I’m a fan, but I didn’t know I was. I knew Good Vibrations and Surfin’ U.S.A. and then it’s like, ‘Oh, and also that one, and also that one.’ You realize you’ve been hearing it your whole life.”

Paul Dano, actor (Love & Mercy)

“Reading the script I was like, ‘Oh, I thought I knew something about this guy [Brian Wilson], but there’s an amazing story here.’ I feel like there’s a lot to get from the film—not just the music but Brian as a human being and a spirit, and what he had to endure.”

Jena Malone, actress (Time out of Mind)

“In this film, I play Richard Gere’s estranged daughter. He’s obviously such an icon, but he’s just so generous, vibrant and kind. We instantly started tearing each other up onscreen—it was just a really fun exchange.”

Xavier Dolan, director/actor (Mommy, Elephant Song)

“I really don’t see things as a director when I’m wearing my actor’s hat—that’s a stupid expression, but you get it. I would never dare disrespect an artist by telling him, ‘Have you thought about putting your camera there?’ I’m interested in being good and being credible. If ever I felt like there was a directing choice that would damage the quality of acting, I would probably ask questions.”

Laura Dern, actress (Wild, 99 Homes)

“I’ve not even been here for a day. But last night I partied, girl! I’ve gone to many parties, and haven’t been at one for more than 20 minutes. It’s been great.”

Sarah Gadon, actress (Maps to the Stars)

“I was especially excited about playing Julianne Moore’s mother, because who doesn’t dream of that?”

Bobby Cannavale, actor (Adult Beginners)

“[Co-star] Nick Kroll is a funny guy. Plus, he’s funny looking, which is half the battle.”

Patricia Clarkson, actress (October Gale)

“Ruba [Nadda] is one of the most exquisite people on this planet; she’s the little sister I never had. It’s nice for a woman of my age—I’m 54—to be the leading lady and an object of desire. That’s a very powerful part of Ruba’s talent.”

Sam Rockwell, actor (Laggies)

“I did a movie in Toronto—I spent four or five months here—so I have some haunts.”

Viggo Mortensen, actor (Far From Men, Jauja)

“Once you learn a couple languages as a kid, it’s easier to pick up other ones. In Far From Men, I speak Arabic, French, and Spanish. French and Spanish I could speak before, but for this movie, since I’m playing an Algerian, I had to change my accent. So it was like starting fresh. Arabic was new to me, which was fun. The other movie, Jauja, is an Argentine-Danish movie. I speak Spanish with a heavy Danish accent, kind of like my dad does. It was the first time I got to play a Danish character and it turned out to be in an Argentine movie. Kind of strange.”

Jane Levy, actress (Bang Bang Baby)

“I give birth [in the film] and watching the labor is really embarrassing. My co-star, Peter Stormare, talked me through that scene–he has two daughters.”

Brit Marling, Muna Otaru, and Hailee Steinfeld, actresses (The Keeping Room)

Hailee: “We hate each other, it’s horrible.” Brit: “We hate-love each other. We have the best time, so this doesn’t feel like doing press at all. We’re just getting to hang out.”

Ruba Nadda, director (October Gale)

“I’m Arab, so I was born in super high heels, but I’m seven months pregnant. Today I’m wearing wedges. I’ve been told that making films is harder than having a baby.”