By Linda Barnard Staff Reporter
Thu., Sept. 3, 2015
Each year, TIFF chooses four actors the festival thinks are bound for bigger things to take part in its Rising Stars program.
They’re put through several busy days of professional development, ranging from media training boot camps to “speed-dating” sessions with casting directors and producers.
It’s designed to “increasingly put the spotlight on the top tier of Canadian artists,” for both filmmakers and the public, says Rising Stars program manager Nicole Hilliard-Forde, a Toronto independent casting director and producer.
Now in its fifth year, the emerging talent chosen to take part in high-level networking sessions with industry “movers and shakers” are “truly the best actors we have coming up through the ranks,” Hilliard-Forde points out.
Sixteen actors have gone through the program with another four — Stephan James, Aliocha Schneider, Deragh Campbell and Karelle Tremblay — starting Sept. 12, just as TIFF kicks off its 40th edition.
Here’s a look at the careers of a five TIFF Rising Stars that are making their mark. Their responses have been edited and condensed.
Tatiana Maslany: 2012
Starred in: The most successful TIFF Rising Stars alumnus, Maslany has been nominated for an Emmy for Best Actress in a TV Drama for the third season of Orphan Black. (The awards are handed out Sept. 20.)
After indie Picture Day and romantic drama The Vow, she co-starred with Richard Dreyfuss in Jason Priestley’s directing debut, Cas & Dylan (2012) and was impressive onscreen (and in German) as the young version of Helen Mirren’s true-life character Maria Altmann in Woman in Gold.
What’s next?
Maslany stars opposite Dane DeHaan (Life, The Amazing Spider-Man 2) in Canadian director Kim Nguyen’s Two Lovers and a Bear and will play a bipolar woman opposite Downton Abbey’s Tom Cullen in romantic drama The Other Half.
Sarah Gadon: 2011
Starred in: David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, Cosmopolis and Maps to the Stars) and opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy.
Best part of Rising Stars?
“There is so much going on and so much talent being showcased (at TIFF), it can be both intimidating and daunting to navigate the press, the parties and the industry opportunities. The organization mentors and supports you during and after the festival. In the same way that a studio would support and mentor an actor, program fosters each actor and helps them to make to most out of the opportunities that are knocking on their door.”
What’s next?
I just shot a film called Indignation, directed by James Schemes, based on the Phillip Roth novel that will be out next year as well as (Stephen King’s) 11.22.63 for Hulu out in February.
Julia Sarah Stone: 2014
Starred in:The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom, (TV series) The Killing, Wet Bum
Best part of Rising Stars?
“Confidence and clarity in interviews/publicity. The media training and interview practice was incredibly helpful when it came to EPK for the projects I did afterwards. It was also a major opportunity to learn about the business side of the industry from esteemed casting directors and producers, who were very generous in sharing their guidance and insight.
What’s next?
At TIFF with Every Thing Will Be Fine. Also a tough, gritty role on (TV series) Falling Skies and I played a mysterious, androgynous psychic in an independent feature Unearthing. I was a disappearing girl in sci-fi film The Unseen and in a heartfelt comedy called The Space Between for which I learned to roller skate. I am preparing to work on an upcoming Canadian indie film, but I can’t give any details yet.
Evelyne Brochu: 2013
Starred in:Polytechnique, Café de Flore, Orphan Black
Best part of Rising Stars?
“I felt it when I started shooting Orphan Black, but the feeling grew even stronger during the few days of the TIFF Rising Stars program: something is happening in Toronto. It’s exciting, it’s inspiring, but most of all, it’s inviting. TIFF is about movies first, but right after it’s about connections. What rocked about my TIFF experience that year was that it was all about these human, artistic connections. I met amazingly passionate casting agents, directors, producers, movers and shakers from around the world. I also left with new friendships and relationships that I can count on to this day.”
What’s next?
“I’m shooting Season 2 of X Company right now in Budapest and I can’t wait for people to see it this winter on CBC. This September, the Ed Zwick movie Pawn Sacrifice is coming out. I also just finished shooting a Switzerland-Québec feature film called Miséricorde, a really special project where I play a character that is very different from anything I’ve done before.”
Stephan James: 2015
Starred in:Selma, The Book of Negroes
A member of this year’s TIFF Rising Stars, James has yet to experience the program but seems already poised for big things. Hilliard-Forde calls him “a very exciting actor,” predicting “he’s going to be a . . . superstar.” Through a publicist, James said he was “looking forward to having one-on-ones with others in the industry and enjoying the wonderful talent the festival has to offer.”
What’s next?
Playing legendary American track star Jesse Owens in Race, due out Feb. 19 and currently working on NBC’s guardian angel drama, Unveiled.