Sean Penn is notorious for not stopping for the press, and if he does, he typically makes some sort of snooty remark. As the press waited—for several long hours—word got around that Penn was in fact not coming. Apparently, he didn’t feel like it. With this news, and the news that Jude Law was not yet in town, we were all worried. Eventually, a large SUV showed up, and who should emerge but Mr. Penn himself, along with his stunning wife. They walked the carpet rather quickly, not stopping at the south end of the carpet for the photographers waiting there. Penn made one quick remark (unheard by me) to a TV crew and kept walking, clutching Robin’s hand. As they made their way to the south end of the carpet, bulbs started flashing. Penn did not stop. I was standing on a stepladder behind a photographer from New York. Robin looked up and made eye contact. She pulled Sean close and posed for a single shot. I nearly fell off the ladder. I was one of only two photographers to get the shot. And Robin was looking directly at me!

The premiere of Bobby was a star-studded affair, but it was a virtually unknown actor who stole the photographers’ hearts—Svetlana Metkina. She was one of the first to walk the Red Mile, and, conspicuously, she wasn’t wearing black (an all-too-common colour for starlets at this year’s fest). This got all the photographers buzzing. Once she made it to our end, everyone started firing. She provided full-length shots, close-ups, everything. Celebrity photog George Pimentel yelled out “Blow me a kiss!” He was standing next to me, and Svetlana must have thought it was me. She looked me in the eye and blew me the best kiss I’ve ever had!

I arrived at the Elgin’s Visa screening room about an hour early, thinking that there wouldn’t be a lot of press. Was I wrong. Many of the photographers had been waiting since 2 p.m. Not for Rachel Weisz, however, but for J. Lo! Her screening was the same night—at 9 p.m.! So there I was out in the rain, at the back of the press area, thinking this was going to be a waste—there were about three rows of photographers in front of me. The only opportunity I had was when Rachel got out of her car. As soon as she arrived, the cameras were up. I leaned over the velvet rope, and as one of the volunteers opened up an umbrella for her, there was a moment where no one was shooting. I dodged elbows and got one shot off.

Jude Law wasn’t scheduled to be at the premiere of All the King’s Men. He was still in London. So once Sean Penn had come and gone, we all thought that was it. Wrong! Another black SUV pulled up, and out came Jude Law. The crowd, mostly women, roared. He does the red carpet with class, stopping for everyone. I later found out that he got into Toronto at 8 p.m., rushed to the hotel and made it to the premiere. This photo was taken the moment he finished the carpet. He looks exhausted, but I guess anyone would be.

Everyone came to see the big stars at the premiere of Bobby—Emilio Estevez, Christian Slater, Sharon Stone, William H. Macy and Demi Moore. A rumour circulated that Ashton Kutcher was escorting Demi to the premiere. The rumour was true. They were the last ones to arrive. Ashton was reluctant to walk the carpet; he wasn’t even in the movie, after all. So he and Demi quickly walked up the carpet. They both stopped at the north end and posed for about 30 seconds. That may not seem like long, but photographers can squeeze off about 40 shots in that time. It looked they were about to kiss, and that would have been The Shot. They never ended up kissing; this was as close as they got. Ashton rushed into the theatre without stopping for interviews. Demi did one more interview, then a quick pose, and walked in.