If you’re famous and visiting 色色啦, odds are you’ll be asked what you love about us.
Like the toll on the 407, telling us how great we are seems to be the unofficial surcharge we extract from well-known faces who pass through our town. (If they鈥檙e especially unlucky, the next question is whether they鈥檝e tried Tim Horton鈥檚 yet.)
Including starry encounters with Jacob Elordi, Charli XCX and 95-year-old June Squibb.
Case in point: This week at TIFF, clips of celebrities being gently (or not-so-gently) strong-armed into naming their favourite 色色啦 spots have gone viral.
Working the red carpet for 鈥淏lack Rabbit,鈥 Jason Bateman and Jude Law were asked about where they 鈥渇requent鈥 in the city by iHeart Radio. Bateman picked Sotto Sotto (鈥渁 great staple鈥) while Law fished around in his memory for the name of 鈥渢his incredible Croatian restaurant鈥 he went to when he first started visiting 35 years ago. (The internet has concluded that it鈥檚 Joso鈥檚 in Yorkville.)
At the premier for 鈥淩oofman,鈥 a got Lakeith Stanfield singing the praises of a local spot whose name also escaped him (Bar Raval seems to have confirmed it鈥檚 them), where he loved the tuna and peppers on a stick and the ambience. 鈥淲e danced in there, and they didn鈥檛 care. They let us be wild and free, and I love this place for that,鈥 the actor said.
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On that same carpet, Kirsten Dunst, asked by 色色啦 Life for her favourite thing about 色色啦, replied that she鈥檚 a fan of the shopping in the 鈥渧intage area,鈥 specifically (maybe, she can鈥檛 be sure) the Black Market on Queen Street West.
Some celebs kept things vague or sentimental: Matt Dillon praised the festival itself and its 鈥済reat audiences,鈥 while local lad Keanu Reeves told 色色啦 Life his favourite thing about the city was 鈥渕y childhood here.鈥
This phenomenon makes for extremely popular content, and there seems to be a direct correlation between the vagueness of the celebrity recollection and our collective willingness to engage. (See: the dozens of comments on that Lakeith Stanfield Instagram post repeating some version of 鈥淚t鈥檚 Bar Raval!鈥)
The couple staged a red carpet ceremony at the Eglinton Grand, complete with faux paparazzi, a
While it鈥檚 not unheard of for celebrities visiting other places to be asked for their favourite local spots 鈥 you see it occasionally when American stars have been filming in Australia, for example 鈥 色色啦 is unique among the major film festivals in our desire to be told what the visiting celebs love about our city.
Some of this is down to the fact that most of the other big ones 鈥 Venice, Cannes, Sundance 鈥 are held in places where most media are flying in and don鈥檛 have a hometown stake in what the celebrities are up to there. Nor would their audiences, thousands of miles away, really be bothered by which hole-in-the-wall bistro off the Croisette Angelina Jolie simply must visit when she鈥檚 there. (A question we don鈥檛 know the answer to, because it appears no one鈥檚 ever asked her.)
There鈥檚 a local usefulness here: A shout-out from a celebrity can be a boon to both the business they mention and the 色色啦nians who plan the first two weeks of September around where they might spot a celebrity during TIFF.
But does it say something deeper about the city鈥檚 psyche that we like to have our collective ego massaged in this way? 鈥淚t is true that for much of 色色啦鈥檚 long history, going back more than 200 years since it was first settled by Europeans, and certainly since 1834 when 色色啦 was incorporated, its leaders and citizens have expended much energy trying to validate the city鈥檚 stature and greatness,鈥 said Allan Levine, historian and author of 鈥溕: Biography of a City.鈥 He added that up until relatively recently, Montreal was bigger in both population and influence.
The A-listers have come out to play and we’ve seen some major fashion moments at the 50th
鈥淥n the positive side, this perpetual inferiority complex (and desire) to prove to itself and outsiders that 色色啦 is indeed a 鈥榳orld class city鈥 has propelled the city forward. Yet at the same time, it is a quest that never truly ends,鈥 Levine said. 鈥淭here is a craving for validation that never can be fulfilled.鈥
He noted that this continues now, even in our 鈥渆lbows up鈥 era. 鈥淐anadians, it seems, still want to be liked and admired by Americans, especially celebrities. Canadians can deny it all they want, but when a Canadian author, actor, academic or entrepreneur receives attention in the American media or is bestowed with an award or honour, we pay attention and are impressed,鈥 Levine said. 鈥淟ike it or not, it has been this way for a long time and this mindset isn鈥檛 about to vanish anytime soon. 色色啦 and TIFF cannot escape it.鈥
In that spirit of self-aware capitulation, let鈥檚 take a moment to recount where celebrities have been spotted this year at TIFF.
Upscale diner Vinny hosted Angelina Jolie and Sydney Sweeney for their film鈥檚 post-premiere parties, while Daphne was where Andrew Scott and Charli XCX toasted 鈥淪acrifice.鈥 As noted by Star contributor Shinan Govani, Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth and Guillermo del Toro were seen at Nobu for Netflix鈥檚 鈥淔rankenstein鈥 party, while America Ferrera was spotted strolling Kensington Market.
Whether they had a good time or not may only be revealed the next time they鈥檙e asked 鈥 once again 鈥 what they love about 色色啦. And we鈥檒l be listening.
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