When you’re this big, they call you Weinstein (and no, that’s not a fat joke). Harvey Weinstein,
former head of Miramax and likely the most powerful man at TIFF, held court (once again) on Sunday night at the celebrity hotspot for this year’s festival. Having spied on him for three days now, we can report what might be our favourite TIFF ritual: the deferential Weinstein greeting. Read on for the scoop in our fourth series of dispatches from Soho House.
All the stars do it. Some sit and chat with Weinstein (Dustin Hoffman engaged him in conversation for a few minutes), while others, like Ewan McGregor, simply stop by to pay their respects, as if Weinstein is the Pope and they’re there to kiss his ring.
Hoffman, by the way, was at Soho to attend the after-party for his directorial debut, Quartet, which stars Dame Maggie Smith and Billy Connolly. (Nothing against Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Stewart, but nice to know not all movies require a barely pubescent starlet to get financing).
We spied the hilarious Connolly out back enjoying a cigar. Discussing the differences of having an older fan base, he joked that where women had, perhaps, once thrown underpants on stage, “now they throw Depends.”
On the other side of the age spectrum, Zac Efron popped in to celebrate his new movie At Any Price, as did his co-star Dennis Quaid. Rounding out the talent tally were Naomi Watts, William H. Macy, Helen Hunt, John Hawkes, Saoirse Ronan, Gael Garcia Bernal, Stephen Dorff and Nina Dobrev.
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Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”