Denzel Washington reaches out to his fans. It’s opening night outside the Bell Lightbox at the Toronto International Film Festival (also known as the late summer orgy of celebrity worship), where animated fans come out to see their favourite movie stars and feed their obsession with famous people they’ve never met.
But Washington’s fans are not yelling. There’s no fervour. They’re reflective, asking questions, shaking his hand, attempting to connect with him not as a movie star but as a human being, albeit for one brief and surely unforgettable moment.
Someone they admire is there in the flesh, and all that’s required is his humble, natural presence, as improbable as that seems amid the red-carpet glitz.
As Washington is finally whisked away by a waiting car, genuine happiness washes over their faces.
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