TORONTO -- Filmgoers attending one of the final red carpet gala screenings at this year's Toronto International Film Festival may want to keep an eye on the stars in attendance while they watch the movie.
While the glitzy premieres feature plenty of flashbulbs on the red carpet, they're also the first time some actors have seen their film -- and that can be a special experience.
So you might see actors exchange ecstatic, disappointed or bewildered glances during or after the film.
For Matthew McConaughey, the first screening of one of his films is a trip. He insists he can remember every single take that he performs in, which makes watching a film for the first time a mentally taxing exercise.
At first, his memories from on set are a bit foggy, since it's probably been a year or more since he worked on the project. But before long, everything starts rushing back.
"When I see a film I've been in, my first screening is very seldom ever enjoyable," said McConaughey in a recent interview.
"You remember takes, you remember days, you remember scenes. I personally can remember every single take I've ever done. When I see a movie a year later I can tell you, 'That scene right there is take four -- it wasn't my best take.'
"In going to see a movie, let's say it's cut down to two hours of celluloid, it is just a bombardment, just a combustion of history rushing through my brain.... So when I first see a film, I'm seeing notes in the song but I'm not hearing the music, because I'm helplessly dissecting.
"The second and third time is when I can kind of see the movie and sit back and take the ride."
That kind of first-viewing performance review is common among actors, who are eager to see what a director has done with their performances. You might even catch a star react with visible shock at the sight of themselves onscreen -- or the lack of a key scene.
Colin Farrell was in Toronto to catch "Seven Psychopaths" for the first time and his past experience working with the film's director, Martin McDonagh, left him unsure of what to expect.
The "In Bruges" director was "mercenary" in cutting scenes from that movie which turned out well but ultimately needed to go, Farrell said.
"I'm keenly aware from 'In Bruges' of how -- and kind of surprised -- of how Martin was willing to sacrifice moments and full scenes in the service of the story," he said.
"I always imagine it's a really hard thing for a director to take a scene that they love, that works, and realize that it doesn't fit in with the narrative or somehow doesn't suit the story and remove it.
"I know from 'In Bruges' that Martin really sculpted that film in a way that when I saw it there were scenes missing, that I didn't miss. They were gone and I was like, 'Wow!"'
For actors who have smaller parts or scenes that don't involve the entire cast, seeing a movie for a first time can be a long awaited peek into what the other actors did.
That was the experience in Toronto for "Almost Famous" actor Patrick Fugit, who appears in the new Gwyneth Paltrow-Mark Ruffalo dramedy "Thanks for Sharing."
"I was all focused on my (parts) and I just came in and shot that and that's all I knew about," Fugit said earlier in the festival.
"I was really, as a viewer, was able to invest in everything -- in the story, in the characters in the story, in what was happening. And the payoffs at the end, I mean they meant a lot to me. That's hard to do a lot of times when you're in a film."
Joseph Gordon-Levitt had seen "Looper" "a bunch of times" before its world premiere in Toronto to open the festival, but still looked forward to the public screening, knowing it would be enlightening.
"I think watching a movie with an audience is a much different experience than watching it alone," says Gordon-Levitt, who was eager to watch audience members watch the movie and see their reactions.
"It's a funny thing because in the movie industry everyone's looking for, 'What are we going to do to keep people coming to the theatres? Well we should make 3D movies or blah, blah, blah.' To me, it's not about that, it's about the social experience that just changes it entirely when you're sitting there in a crowd.
"Storytelling is something that's been done in a communal way ever since human beings were human beings and so coming together with lots of people changes a movie."
The Toronto International Film Festival wraps Sunday.
The closing gala is "Song for Marion," starring Vanessa Redgrave and Terence Stamp.
