It’s not everyday that you get to attend a very intimate panel with a bunch of movie stars, delicious Grey Goose cocktails, killer views, and a pair of seafood towers…but that’s exactly what I did on day 4 of TIFF. Last Sunday, I found myself on top of the world the rooftop of Lavelle staring at the handsome cast of The Current War film. Led by Deadline Hollywood’s Joe Utichi, the panel consisted of Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Writer/Executive Producer Michael Mitnick, and actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon and Nicholas Hoult.

The actors seemed to be in great spirits, cracking jokes, enjoying their Grey Goose Caesars (both Cumberbatch and Shannon had two each, but who’s counting), and chatting about all things electricity, relationships, and muttonchops. When asked a slightly baffling question about getting ugly for a film role, Cumberbatch quipped that he “loved being ugly in this film” as Edison…even though no noticeable changes were done to the actor’s appearance beyond wardrobe. But he did seem to have a sense of humour about the whole thing. In response to the question about the cast’s own relationship with physics and sciences and how it impacted their acting, Cumberbatch confessed that he “was really bad at physics at school”, while Hoult’s response was slightly less modest: “I understood everything and I think that shines through in my performance”, he said with a laugh. Hoult also shared that the cast took a science lesson to prepare for their roles.“Nick is a bright boy”, added Shannon, while Cumberbatch concurred that Hoult did better than the other two in class. Beauty and brains!

After the panel, my friend and I seized the opportunity to say hello to Hoult and grab a photo with the actor…and in case you were wondering, yes, he is very good looking (and tall) IRL, and was super nice about our fangirling.

The Current War will hit theatres on November 24th, and the full video of the panel is embedded below for your viewing pleasure.

More after the jump!
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