“You can find me asleep under a blanket of swag bags on The Drake’s rooftop patio. Yup, shamelessly TIFF’s littlest Hobo.”
How do you prepare for TIFF? ‘Right now?’ …Yikes! Well, NOW I’m preparing by panicking that I’m not prepared.
Where would we most likely find you during TIFF at 2PM? Asleep, ideally in my hotel room but most likely under a blanket of swag bags on the big rooftop patio cushions at the Drake Hotel. Yup, shamelessly TIFF’s littlest Hobo.
What has been your most memorable TIFF party? Oooh! Well, I’ll never forget The Schmooze of…2004? (…I think) It was the year Parker Posey and I each had a film in the fest, THAT I know for sure. Well, this is kind of a long story but here’s the Cole’s notes:
I’m about to walk the red carpet when I’m taken from my group by an official looking woman to do an interview “in 2 minutes” she says “so wait right here,” so I’m waiting… watching everyone else from my movie go down the carpet and enter the schmooze (which should have been my first clue…) But suddenly the camera’s spot light hits me and “we’re ready in 3…2………..” BLACK – light goes out as I hear the reporter-lady say “that’s a lot darker.” Well, the GOOD news was: I don’t think anyone heard ‘Sherlock Holmes’ here say “Ooh, I think maybe your light went out.” That would have been embarrassing as a response to what she said, which I later learned was in fact “that’s NOT PARKER.” The BAD news certainly WASN’T being mistaken for Parker Posey, no no, it was that the doorman had never heard of me when I tried to explain that my pass had gone into the party, with my party and….”I’m…er…Parker Posey…?” Now I’m not sure about this, as both Alanis’s and Webster’s definition of irony confuses me, however, I THINK it’s rather ironic that I was ultimately let in when a lovely reporter with the then STAR! TV saw me being turned away and came to my rescue. Ugh. (Cringe)…and I started loud coughing as she’s telling him my REAL name…God, I’m ridiculous. Whatever, it was MEMORABLE!

What are the three things you need during TIFF to survive? You know those parents who walk their kids on a harness/leash like thingy? Well, I think the festival pass should be built-in to one of those and come with some kind of ‘buddy system’ –like you get assigned a person from the press to attach yourself to…?

So my three necessities would be
#1- a pass…
#2- …in the form of a harness-leash contraption connectable to…
#3…your designated ‘press-buddy’.

Having been both locked out, as well as lost in many a TIFF event, if my ridiculous looking invention saves just one person (I mean, just think of what would happen to Sue Thomas F.B. Eye if she lost her badge AND her seeing eye dog during the festival!) then I think it’s worth some serious consideration.
If you are looking for a moment of peace and quiet within the ten days – where do you go or what do you do? For me, the desire to ‘get away from it all’ comes when I’m at a party or during press days. So for the former I have been known to hide out in bathroom stalls –neither peaceful nor quiet, I know, but it gives me a ‘time out’. As for the latter, press days are held in a hotel so I take the elevator up to the emptiest floor and sit in the stairwell.
Which celebrity run-in has been your favourite? Or had you the most awestruck? Awe stuck: Vince Vaughn, primarily because he’s a GIANT. My fave was simply being in the same room as Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson since our ‘run-in’ only happened in my mind.
What has been the strangest interaction you’ve had during TIFF? Walking out of my first TIFF premiere and having Mary Hart point her massive ET microphone at me.
Which film are you most looking forward to this year? Honestly, I never usually stay to watch my own film but I’m actually REALLY looking forward to seeing The Trotsky with an audience.
What’s your best advice for someone who’s never attended TIFF before? Use this opportunity to see the smaller movies that may never get released.
Best SWAG ever? The etalk daily suitcase circa 2005. A) because I still use it as my carry on 4 years later and B) because it came PACKED!
You have a huge smile on your face at TIFF – what just happened? Oh my goodness! Lars Von Trier (and/or Paul Thomas Anderson…Werner Herzog) just came over to me and said he saw my movie…and started telling me all these ridiculously nice compliment-y things that I can’t repeat cause I’m Canadian. And he’s decided to write a movie for me! AHHHHH!!!!! (HUGE SMILE that will need to be surgically removed when it comes time to shoot my imaginary movie.)
If you could pick the brain of one filmmaker – who would it be? Ooof that’s hard, I mean I clearly have a Paul Thomas Anderson thing but I have a huge desire to pick almost EVERYONE’S brain. …Ok, I know! I’m going to look through the fest program and pick the one person who will actually BE at the fest. So that I can spend these weeks before doing some “The Secret’ – manifesting-destiny – operation brain pick visualization voodoo.” As preparation. …..Hold on, one sec: Back: Did you know that Samantha Morton directed a movie this year!!?? WOW! Her brain please, she’s my choice pick.
If you could grab a drink with one celeb – who would you choose? Stephen Merchant (Co-creator of ‘The Office’ with Ricky Gervais) ’cause if I were casting a best friend for myself he’d be my first ‘name’ offer.
What’s the first thing you’ll want to do once the insanity is over? If I had the power to cause one of those black outs that happened back in 2003… I would do that the minute the credits stopped rolling on closing night.