Chris Rock, Andrew Scott, Lee Min-ho Headline TIFF 2026's In Conversation Series
Chris Rock will world-premiere his latest film Misty Green at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and sit down for one of the festival's marquee on-stage interviews, TIFF announced on August 11 (The Hollywood Reporter).
Produced by A24, Misty Green stars Rosalind Eleazar as an actress whose career stalled years after her breakthrough role, as she fights for a second act. The ensemble cast also features Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick, Topher Grace and Rock himself. The film slots into TIFF's Gala and Special Presentations programme, a section that this year includes titles from nearly 30 countries (TIFF.net).
Rock is one of five names named for the festival's In Conversation With... series, which puts filmmakers and performers in front of a public audience for extended, informal discussions about their craft and careers.
Andrew Scott will head to Toronto with Simon Stone's Elsinore, in which he plays the late actor Ian Charleson, who performed Hamlet on the London West End while living with AIDS, in one of his final stage roles. Scott, known to many as the "Hot Priest" in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag, as Moriarty in Sherlock, and for turns in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and Richard Linklater's Blue Moon, brings serious dramatic weight to the festival's conversation slate.
Korean actor and singer Lee Min-ho will present his latest film The Assassin(s) in Toronto, while director Rachel Morrison brings her sophomore feature Love of Your Life, a romantic drama starring Margaret Qualley, Aaron Pierre and Patrick Schwarzenegger, for a world premiere. Hudson Williams, star of Heated Rivalry, rounds out the announced conversation lineup; he will also discuss his upcoming role in Yaga, a supernatural mystery thriller created by Kat Sandler for Crave and AMC+.
Anita Lee, TIFF's chief programming officer, said in a statement that this year's series brings together "trailblazers and extraordinary storytellers" for conversations offering audiences a deeper look at their craft and careers (The Hollywood Reporter).
The 51st edition of TIFF runs September 10 to 20, 2026, presented by Rogers. The festival's full schedule went live on tiff.net on August 11, capping a rollout that has seen successive programme announcements across July and August: Discovery on July 22, Short Cuts on August 5, Midnight Madness on August 6, and a TIFF Docs slate spanning subjects from Megan Rapinoe to Edward Said to cowgirls.
For audiences, the In Conversation series has always been TIFF's most direct access point. Festival films arrive finished and polished; the conversations arrive unfinished, with a performer mid-career, willing to talk about the decisions behind the work rather than just the work itself. Rock, stepping into the festival circuit as both director and supporting player of an A24 title, is the kind of figure that format was built for.
