Racing Rivals Take Over
the TIFF Red Carpet

Part of why I really liked Ford v Ferrari is that it came out when superhero movies and IP-driven franchises dominated the box office. The movie played the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September of 2019, only a few months after Avengers: Endgame took over pop culture. It still had it in a chokehold by then, too.

So when a movie that didn't have anything to do with Marvel, Disney, and comic book superheroes came onto the scene, I was interested. Then I saw the cast: Matt Damon and Christian Bale as the two leads? Yes, please! Not only are they great actors in their own right, but they've both worked with my favorite director, Christopher Nolan.

I would've loved it if Nolan directed this, even though it's far from the type of movies he makes, but having these two together was more than enough to let me go see it. Heck, it was even enough to push me to go to the film's TIFF premiere that bustling September night.

Truth be told, I had already been thinking about going to TIFF that year anyway. I've gone to the festival a couple of times before, but life got me busy lately. I was still 50-50 on whether I'd go that year, but when I heard Ford v Ferrari would play there, I knew I had to.

On top of that, my friend who runs a memorabilia shop gave me one of the early copies of the movie poster, and he challenged me to get it signed by the cast. The movie featured some big names, as I've already mentioned, and he knew that I dabbled in autograph-hounding. He prodded me, and I took the challenge.

It was the best decision I made because most of the cast appeared at the red carpet premiere at Roy Thomson Hall that Monday night. Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Caitríona Balfe, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, and Tracy Letts were all there. They posed for the cameras, spoke to the press, and interacted with fans throughout the night.

Naturally, I was most excited to see Damon and Bale. More than just their work with Nolan, I had been a fan of theirs for years, and it was the first time I'd seen them in real life. What instantly stood out to me was how down-to-earth they looked. I'm 6'2" and not even the tallest in my family, since I do have Dutch ancestry, so I was surprised at how I seemed to tower over them.

Even from afar, I could feel their star quality as they posed for the cameras. Bale in particular had a bushy beard and slightly long hair, but he paired it with a tailored suit and looked every bit the leading man.

It took me a while to get their attention, but I eventually got them and the rest of the cast to sign my movie poster. They were all nice about it, too. And to no one's surprise, the movie became a commercial and critical hit. I definitely loved it when I first saw it at TIFF, and I've only grown to like it even more since then. The poster still hangs on my wall.