Missing links at Creation premiere

The opening night gala of TIFF comes with a disproportionate amount of giddy journos and fans, all bending over the metal barricades at Roy Thomson Hall in loopy anticipation. Last night, however, the buildup to the stars’ arrival was more amusing than the two minutes Creation stars (and real-life husband and wife) Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly spent on the red carpet.

For one thing, most of the people waiting behind the barricades had no idea what film was premiering. One man even thought TIFF was a television station (“It’s like OMNI, right?”). There was also an inexplicably large showing of Japanese tourists who had a confused gaze when the names Connelly and Bettany were mentioned (they did however gasp in giddiness when someone mentioned that Brad Pitt came to last year’s TIFF).

It was clear there weren’t any hard-core Bettany and Connelly fans as TIFF volunteers went up and down the fan fence asking if anyone would like to be interviewed about their Bettany-Connelly fandom for TIFF promotional footage and they were met with silence (it should be noted that the interviewer looks like Jay Manual‘s twin, silver hair and all). A Brazilian man eventually raised his hand and said something about how hot Connelly is.

Regardless, people were caught up in the celebrity frenzy and waved around whatever piece of paper they had for autographs in hopes that they’ll later realize that they came face to face with a Hollywood A-lister.