Shannon Shorten and her son Harrison headed to King Street to check out TIFF this weekend, and they managed to interact with and spot more than 30 celebrities!
"On Saturday, we were like, 'What should we do today?' and I said, 'Well, TIFF is here, why don't we go check it out?' Just thought we would just be walking around, looking at stuff and not be able to see anything," Shorten told Narcity.
Fortunately for this mother-son duo, their day, which turned into a weekend extravaganza, was more exciting than they planned.
Saturday sightings
After winning a t-shirt from a Candian Film Industry contest on September 10, the pair stumbled by RBC House on Duncan Street, between Adelaide and King Street.
"We were just walking around, and we kind of found a secret spot where they [celebrities] were coming out constantly," said Shorten.
"It was also the LA Times' spot, so it was where everyone was coming to do a quick photoshoot or a press interview. So they would literally pull up in their car, get out, and go inside. They'd be in there for either like 10 or 20 minutes and then they'd come out so you could get them going in or coming out."
Harrison was able to mine for celebrity gold at this secret location as one of the only kids in the small crowd of fans outside the venue.
Alex Wolff was the first celebrity to stop and sign Harrison's t-shirt that he had won after Harrison recognized him from Jumanji.
The pair managed to snag signatures from Henry Selick and Mélanie Laurent and get a wave from Hillary Clinton at the RBC House.
But that's not where the celeb train ended.
The pair left their hotspot and saw the cast of the Glass Onion walk down the red carpet at the Princess of Wales Theatre before heading back to RBC House, where Harrison got a signature from Sterling K. Brown and spotted Viola Davis, John Boyega, and Mark Duplass.
But after a while, Shorten says, they decided to try their luck waiting behind the Royal Alexandra Theatre to see what celebs exited through the back.
As luck would have it, Harrison managed to spot Jennifer Lawrence and get a wave from Brian Tyree Henry, which ended their six-hour day of celeb sightings.
Sunday sightings
On Sunday, Harrison and Shorten went back out on King Street and put the paparazzi to shame.
The pair alternated from waiting outside of the RBC house and behind the Royal Alexandra Theatre and Princess of Wales Theatre from 12:30 p.m. to around 6 p.m. (both of which are hotspots for TIFF red carpet premieres and have fan zones out front).
Harrison managed to get signatures from Andrew Scott, Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Margaret Qualley, Christopher Abbott, Mae Martin, Sophie Okonedo, and Lena Dunham.
Not to mention a high five from Jennifer Lawrence and several other notable sightings, including Harry Styles.
Harrison told Narcity his favourite celebrity interactions were with Mae Martin and Bill Nighy, who he "really liked."
Although, according to Harrison, Dunham made a pretty big effort to chat with him and said, "How old are you? You're doing really well."
How it works
While most of Harrison's luck was stumbling upon the RBC House after spotting a few paparazzi with cameras and catching celebs in smaller crowds, Shorten also thinks age and karma played a role.
"Because Harrison's also a kid, he could just kind of stand on the side and run around the gate and get to see people," says Shorten.
"I think in most cases, he was the only kid there [...] so they just kind of gravitated but especially the ones that are parents. They just kind of gravitated towards him. Because he's got his little sharpie and his t-shirt which he wasn't wearing."
Shorten would step back and try and snap a pic of Harrison as he asked the celebs for autographs, but a lot of what they did was sit on the curb and wait.
Shorted says they looked at the TIFF schedule once in and while but that they left most of it as a surprise.
"I think right place, right time and Harrison's good karma, I think. He's just a really nice kind-hearted kid, and I think, you know, sometimes that just comes back to you every once in a while."
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Max Domi and Auston Matthews at TIFF 2023 event. Photo by Kennedy Pollard/Getty Images for RBC.