It felt like the celebs at this year’s festival were engaged in a no-holds-barred competition to be the sweetest star at TIFF. Everywhere we looked, we saw actors obliging autograph seekers, grinning for iPhone photos and emitting powerful aw-shucks vibes. Perhaps the current crop of A-listers is just especially nice—or perhaps they heard Canadians were polite and were trying to fit in. Either way, we liked it. (We imagine the fans did too.)
At <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-red-carpet/2013/09/13/the-love-punch-gala/">the premiere of <em>The Love Punch,</em></a> <strong>Emma Thompson</strong> <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/10306813/Emma-Thompson-gives-snobby-young-actors-a-masterclass-in-red-carpet-drama.html">took her own advice</a> and delighted fans with funny faces, crazy poses and YouTube-worthy dance moves
Martial artist<strong> Tiger Chen</strong> risked the seams of his formalwear to show fans some flashy moves at the <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-red-carpet/2013/09/11/tiff-2013-red-carpet-man-of-tai-chi/"><em>Man of Tai Chi</em></a> premiere. (First-time director<strong> Keanu Reeves</strong> also deserves an honourable mention for signing dozens of Matrix posters at the same event)
<strong>Joseph Gordon-Levitt</strong> greeted fans in epic—and <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/random-tiff-stuff/2013/09/11/tiff-gif-joseph-gordon-levitt/">GIF-friendly</a>—fashion at <em>Don Jon </em>screening
<strong>Jessica Chastain </strong>posed for a bunch of photos with fans at the <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-red-carpet/2013/09/10/tiff-red-carpet-eleanor-rigby/">premiere of <em>The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, </em></a>and then posed for a whole bunch more <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-parties/2013/09/10/tiff-2013-party-instyle/">outside the InStyle/HFPA</a> party later that night
The star-studded <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-red-carpet/2013/09/10/tiff-red-carpet-august-osage-county/">cast of <em>August: Osage County </em></a>were among TIFF’s most obliging: <strong>Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Juliette Lewis</strong> and <strong>Dermot Mulroney</strong> all put in extended stints signing autographs
At the <a href=" http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-red-carpet/2013/09/08/tiff-2013-can-a-song-save-your-life-red-carpet/"><em>Can A Song Save Your Life? </em>premiere,</a> <strong>Keira Knightley</strong> bravely crossed the streetcar tracks in heels (hey, <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/random-tiff-stuff/2013/09/08/tiff-gif-jennifer-garner/">it’s dangerous!</a>) to shower attention on fans
A cheerful <strong>Amy Poehler </strong>picked up the slack when both <strong>Owen Wilson</strong> and <strong>Zach Galifiinakis </strong>had to miss the <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-red-carpet/2013/09/08/tiff-2013-you-are-here-red-carpet/">premiere of </a><em><a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-red-carpet/2013/09/08/tiff-2013-you-are-here-red-carpet/">You Are Here.</a> </em>Despite pouring rain, Poehler grabbed an umbrella and cut away from the press to meet the waiting masses. Coolest. Lady. Ever.
Years of <em>High School Musical</em> clearly honed <strong>Zac Efron’</strong>s affability. He <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-star-spotting/2013/09/06/spotted-zac-efron-pearson/">started his visit</a> to Toronto by signing autographs at Pearson, and he <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-parties/2013/09/07/tiff-2013-parkland-soho-house-party/">kept it up</a> <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-red-carpet/2013/09/07/tiff-2013-parkland-red-carpet/">all festival long</a>
On the <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/tiff-red-carpet/2013/09/07/tiff-2013-12-years-a-slave-red-carpet/"><em>12 Years a Slave </em>red carpet,</a><strong> Brad Pitt</strong> walked the full length of the block signing autographs, chatting and giving fans a close-up look at his <a href="http://www.torontolife.com/tiff/random-tiff-stuff/2013/09/13/tiff-2013-trend-men-with-lustrous-locks/">man-bun.</a> The star’s handlers eventually had to coax him inside to, you know, watch the movie