The Toronto International Film Festival kicks off in T-minus one day, and let’s just say there is a whole lot of excitement in the air. It helps to have a stellar line-up of much-anticipated premieres and rumoured celebrity appearances, but A-list stars aside, TIFF has also become the stage for up-and-coming actors and actresses to be noticed in the industry. For five years running, the film festival organization introduces a group of young stars (who by the way are selected by a prestigious jury panel) for its Rising Stars program. In other words, it’s the golden opp for participants like this year’s crop—Deragh Campbell, Stephan James, Aliocha Schneider and Karelle Tremblay—to meet and network with industry’s best via buzzy events over the course of the festival. Did we mention it is also the program that churned out many notable alums including our October cover girl Sarah Gadon? Yep. And that’s not all. This year, Topshop and Topman will be dressing their red carpet appearances throughout the 10-day festival. It’s going to be quite the chic Canadian debut for these young stars.
So to help you prep what’s sure-to-be a thrilling film festival, here’s a cheat sheet to knowing a bit about this year’s class of 2015 TIFF Rising Stars.
Deragh Campbell
Age: 26
Location: Toronto
Career: Actress and writer
Breakthrough: Matthew Potterfield’s I Used to Be Darker
Watch for her in: Alexander Carson’s O Brazen Age, Sofia Bohdanowicz’s Never Eat Alone and Julian Radlmaier’s The Pursuit of Happiness and Joey Klein’s The Other Half, starring opposite Tatiana Maslany.
2/10
tiff 2015 rising stars
Deragh Campbell
3/10
tiff 2015 rising stars
Deragh Campbell
4/10
tiff 2015 rising stars
Deragh Campbell
5/10
tiff 2015 rising stars stephan james
Stephan James
Age: 21
Location: Toronto
Career: Actor
Breakthrough: Home Again and Selma
Watch for him in: NBC’s upcoming drama Unveiled and Director X’s Undone
6/10
tiff 2015 rising stars karelle tremblay
Karelle Tremblay
Age: 19
Location: Montreal
Career: Actress
Breakthrough: Mathiu Denis’ Corbo, an Official Selection of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
Watch for her at this year’s TIFF in: Anne Édmond’s Les êtres chers
7/10
tiff 2015 rising stars
Karelle Tremblay
8/10
tiff 2015 rising stars
Karelle Tremblay
9/10
tiff 2015 rising stars aliocha schneider
Aliocha Schneider
Age: 21
Location: Montreal
Career: Actor
Breakthrough: Bon Cop, Bad Cop and Three Night Stand
Watch for him at this year’s TIFF in: Closet Monster, which features Connor Jessup and Isabella Rossellini and Ville-Marie, starring opposite Monica Bellucci.