HOLLYWOOD - JUNE 05: Actors Brad Pitt and George Clooney (R), stars of the film Ocean's 13, pose for photos during their hand and footprints ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on June 5, 2007 in Hollywood, California.
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesTORONTO — Awards season has arrived with the Toronto International Film Festival rolling out its all-star roster of Hollywood actors and directors for its upcoming 36th edition.
Brad Pitt, George Clooney, James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Salma Hayek and Viggo Mortensen will be backing a flurry of Hollywood and indie movie bows in Toronto, as will Keira Knightley, Clive Owen, Gerard Butler, Michelle Yeoh, Ewan McGregor and Abbie Cornish.
They aren’t the only stars to have their publicists and stylists running around for days in preparation for TIFF’s September 8 to 18 run.
Also coming in search of Toronto cameras are members of the irish rock band U2, Neil Young, Glenn Close, Hugh Laurie, James Gandolfini, Jane Fonda, Ethan Hawke, Tilda Swinton, Jason Reitman, Albert Brooks, Gerard Butler and Jon Hamm.
The paparazzi will also be getting poses on the red carpet from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Antonio Banderas, Willem Dafoe, Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling, Emily Blunt, Erin Brockovich, Geoffrey Rush, Hugh Laurie and Jane Fonda.
And homegrown Canadian stars like Ryan Gosling, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen and Christopher Plummer will also be looking to turn heads in Toronto, as will local directors Jean-Marc Vallee, Sarah Polley, Eric Canuel, Mary Harron, Deepa Mehta and Lea Pool.
There should also be sparkly numbers worn in Toronto by Joely Richardson, Selma Blair, Jennifer Hudson, Juliette Lewis, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marisa Tomei, Robin Wright, Megan Fox, Michelle Williams and Mira Sorvino.
Also donning their best threads are veteran directors Cameron Crowe, Francis Ford Coppola, Gus Van Sant, Joe Schumacher, Jonathan Demme, Bobcat Goldthwait and Davis Guggenheim, who will open TIFF on September 8 with his U2 documentary.
Other international filmmakers that are Toronto-bound include Werner Herzog, Michael Winterbottom, Geoffrey Fletcher, the Dardenne brothers, Janine Fung, Kore-Eda Hirokazu, Luc Besson, Chantal Akerman, Darrell Roodt, Dain Said and Emmanuelle Millet.
And the red carpet in Toronto will also be rolled out for Juliette Binoche, Kyle MacLachlan, Luke Kirby, Nicolas Cage, Oliver Platt, Sam Neill, Sarah Silverman, Terrence Howard, Akshay Kumar, Emile Hirsch, Ewan McGregor and Freida Pinto.
