A steady stream of stars continued to walk Toronto's red carpets at the annual film festival Tuesday.
Meg Ryan and Jack Black were among the celebrities debuting their new flicks at gala events to the delight of fans.
Ryan's appearance at an afternoon news conference at the Delta Chelsea hotel attracted a throng of reporters, photographers and at least one fan who tried to sneak his way into the packed room.
Much of the focus was on the actor's steamy nude sex scenes with co-star Mark Ruffalo in the film In he Cut, sure to shed Ryan of her girl-next-door image developed for her feel-good comedic roles.
Directed by Jane Campion, whose work includes The Piano, the psychological thriller chronicles a heartbroken woman who has an intense - and very steamy - relationship with a callous homicide detective.
"I was never worried about it based on the kinds of beautiful work Jane's done before and how she's represented that element," said Ryan, who seemed aloof to the repeated questioning on the topic.
Ryan also tried to brush off the suggestion that the role would free her from the confines of the comedic roles she's done of late.
"I just didn't think of it at all in that kind of context," she said. "I just knew it was Jane and the script was beautiful. I'm not interested in cultivating image or breaking out of image. It's not how I think."
Campion admitted she had some trepidation making a thriller for the first time because she was wary that it would evoke violence.
"I guess I was frightened in many illogical ways," she said laughing. "It's actually just the kind of Grimm's fairy tale myths that our culture lives with because there's a lot less serial killers than there are movies about them."
Nicole Kidman helped produce the film, but Campion said she was a passive executive and came to set only one day. The Oscar winning actress was originally set to play the lead role but bowed out saying she didn't think she was emotionally prepared because shooting began while she was divorcing Tom Cruise.
Black, along with Joan Cusack and writer/actor Mike White, were also in town for the premiere of their movie, The School of Rock.
Fans lined up outside Roy Thomson Hall to catch of glimpse of Black, who's breakthrough role was another music film High Fidelity.
Sure to please both children and adults, School of Rock follows the quest of a delusional musician to win a local Battle of the Bands contest. Black plays Dewey Finn, an unemployed guitarist and singer who gets kicked out of his band. To make money, he impersonates his best friend, a substitute teacher, at a stuffy prep school. Dewey figures he can teach the fifth graders, who cite Christina Aguilera and Puff Daddy as musical influences, to play classic rock songs in order to compete.
It was written by White, who also stars in the film as the teacher friend. White's previous screenplays include Good Girl and Orange County.
Like the over-zealous character of the film, Black broke into song several times during his 45-minute news conference. His humorous banter with the rest of the cast, which included several of the child actors, often left the moderator unable to control the giggling panel.
Black, who's popular with the MTV set for his role in the farcical rock act Tenacious D, said he loved being able to finally combine his two passions together.
"That's right where I live. It's in my kitchen: the rock and the comedy mixing together. Like 'Who got their rock in my comedy? Who got their comedy in my rock.' Wait a second, these things taste delicious together," he gested, arching his eyebrows and starring intensely at the cameras.
To the delight of fans across the city, there has been no shortage of celebrity sightings at the festival. Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Anthony Hopkins and Denzel Washington are just a few who've already passed through town. One enthusiastic fan even flashed Cage her breasts on the red carpet at his Matchstick Men gala over the weekend.
Daryl Hannah, Benicio Del Toro, Sting's wife Trudie Styler, Sean Penn, Kate Beckinsale and Kim Cattrall have been spotted shopping, dining and, of course, watching films.