Toronto Notebook: Of Keanu and Karaoke

Keanu Reeves talks about costar Patrick Swayze, and Samantha Morton gets nuts on the karaoke

By James Rocchi Sep 16, 2009 11:44 PMTags
Keanu ReevesGeorge Pimentel/Getty Images

Some stars are clearing out of the Toronto Film Festival midway through, but there's still plenty of films and action left, from heartful to ho-hum to simply weird.

Speaking of which, look—Keanu Reeves! And a two-time Oscar nominee going nuts in a karaoke bar!

Hometown hero Keanu walked the red carpet Tuesday night for the premiere of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, which stars Robin Wright Penn as a married woman in crisis (hmmm).

Surprisingly, the film's all-star cast (including Winona Ryder, Monica Bellucci, Julianne Moore and Blake Lively) let Reeves, Wright Penn and writer-director Rebecca Miller represent them all at the premiere and afterparty at the posh Le Germain hotel.

Earlier that day at the film's press conference, Reeves also said a few brief, heartfelt words about the passing of his Point Break costar Patrick Swayze (similar to the statement he released):

"I had the opportunity to work with Mr. Swayze; he was a beautiful person, an artist. And I know our sympathies and condolences go out to his friends and family."

On the red carpet that night, though, Reeves was all smiles: "It's great to be back in Toronto," he explained, sporting a beard and long, shaggy hair.

Meanwhile, the surprise celeb sighting of the night was taking place at the least expected place. At a karaoke bash held by Austin's South by Southwest Film Festival, festival programmers and film journalists—nobody important, in other words—rocked the microphone at Gabby's, a casual pub nestled close to the festival's stargazing headquarters, the Four Seasons.

The surprise attendee?

Actress and two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (Minority Report, Sweet and Lowdown, In America), who regaled the crowd with an exuberant rendition of Tears for Fears' '80s classic "Everybody Wants to Rule the World."

Cell phone photos were snapped and fingers tapped out Twitter messages on BlackBerrys as Morton—very clearly in high spirits—gave Gabby's an entirely unexpected note of star power.

We'll have plenty more this week from the Toronto Film Fest, so keep reading E! Online and following @redcarpet on Twitter.

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