TIFF 2012 Celeb Sightings - Day 4

Helen Hunt at the press conference for The Sessions

Joss Whedon

Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe, 21) at the press conference for Cloud Atlas

James D'Arcy (W.E.) at the press conference for Cloud Atlas

Susan Sarandon at the press conference for Cloud Atlas

TIFF 2012 Celeb Sightings - Day 3

Kevin James at the premiere of Hotel Transylvania

Selena Gomez at the premiere of Hotel Transylvania

Tate Donovan (The OC) 

Dustin Hoffman

TIFF 2012 Celeb Sightings - Day 2

Today was a long, slow day but in the end, it was all worth it!

After finishing work and rushing downtown, I met up with my friends and we went to the Princess of Wales Theatre to check out the premiere for The Place Beyond the Pines starring Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper, and Ray Liotta. It was absolute mayhem. There was a massive crowd of people in front of the theatre and across the street and it grew exponentially by the minute. The bad (annoying) thing with crowds is that when people see other people waiting outside of a venue, they will wait too, even though they probably have no idea what the f- is going on. This is bad for me because it's another body or 50 that is between me and the red carpet. Right when we arrived at the theatre, Bradley Cooper had just made his way onto the red carpet. People pushed. Fans screamed. The crowd got back under control. Close to 30 mins later, Eva Mendes finally arrived at the red carpet. People pushed. Fans screamed. The crowd got back under control. Then, Ryan Gosling arrived. People pushed. Fans screamed. The crowd waiting across the street from the theatre ran ONTO King Street and rushed the red carpet, with everyone trying to get a shot of Gosling with their cell phones. Crazy! 

Crowd on King St.

After the film ended, we went to the cast after party at Ame on Mercer. Ryan Gosling arrived first and apologized that he couldn't take photos with fans outside, he had to get his mom into the venue. How sweet! It would've been sweeter if he had taken a photo with me. I do have 3 other photos with him so it's not a terrible loss. He did offer to sign the Drive soundtrack vinyl I was holding for my friend, which was nice. 

Ryan Gosling at Ame

After I got the autograph, I spotted Bradley Cooper walking towards the door and got him to pose for a quick photo. It would've been a great photo had I not zoomed the camera in (I was taking a pic of Gosling posing on the red carpet). Note to self: always undo the zoom! The same thing happened to me years ago with Jude Law.

 Bradley Cooper, zoomed (oops)

Next, Eva Mendes' car pulled up. She got out of the car and posed for a few fan photos, including one while holding a fan's baby. She signed some autographs too but she wouldn't do the sexy photos. 

Eva Mendes

Celeb Spotting Tip: If you only want to catch a glimpse of a celeb, go to their film's premiere. If you want to meet a celeb and get an autograph or take a photo with them, try finding out where the film's after party is. There are usually less people and the celeb (and their security team) is generally more accommodating. 

I left soon after that to meet up with my friend Al, who had given me a very important tip earlier. 

TIFF 2012 Celeb Sightings - Day 1

 Kirsten Dunst and boyfriend Garrett Hedlund get a police escort to their car.

 Garrett Hedlund

 John Krasinski  from The Office lands in Toronto to support wife Emily Blunt at her movie Looper. John takes my camera to take the photo himself because "my arms are longer."

 Vanessa Hudgens arrives with boyfriend Austin Butler and co-star Selena Gomez, who hides behind Vanessa while walking to their car. They are here to promote Spring Breakers. 

 Ashley Benson from Pretty Little Liars

TIFF 2012 Celeb Sightings - Day 0

Yesterday was pretty slow, which was good because I was able to do some work while staked out at the airport all night. Also at the airport were about 30 other "fans", autograph hounds, and photogs. I say "fans" because some of these people waiting for celebs did not recognize a single celeb themselves. They just took photos with them because everyone else was. What a waste of space.

 Aaron Johnson aka. Kick-Ass. He also played Ben in Savages. He arrived to start filming Kick-Ass 2.

 Karl Urban is in Toronto to promote Dredd 3D at TIFF. 

 Christina Hendricks (Joan from Mad Men)

 Bryan Cranston (Walter White from Breaking Bad). So badass!

And so it begins...TIFF 2012

I know I've been slacking on my posts as of late...it's been a busy summer for me. And now, my summer is ending with the most hectic (and exciting) event of the year, the Toronto International Film Festival. 

The next 11 days will be filled with lots of waiting, driving, and of course, celebs. Oh yeah, and work. September is one of the busiest months for work. How inconvenient, right? There was a time when my life stopped for TIFF, when I was in university and when I worked at my insignificant serving job. Now, I have a big girl job and real responsibilities so it's become more difficult to juggle both work and TIFF. I have to stop and think if it's a good idea to wait on celebs at TIFF after parties until 3am or get some sleep so I'm not a zombie at work. The after parties always win, but now I will at least consider the alternative. 

My #1 target this year? Johnny Depp. Wish me luck!

And keep checking back here and on my Twitter @SpottedBySerena throughout TIFF to see my latest celebrity sightings, and tips on how/where to spot some celebs yourself!

- S