A close-up French view of George Clooney's star power

André Wilms, the French star of Aki Kaurismaki's comedy Le Havre, playing at TIFF, doesn't consider himself a movie star, despite his decades in the business and his popularity in Europe (North America will soon be following).

But he knows what a star looks like: George Clooney.

He watched Clooney in action last weekend at the Telluride Film Festival, which both men attended enroute to Toronto for TIFF.  They and other actors and filmmakers were summoned for a "class photo" near the end, for which Wilms showed up in casual attire. Not Clooney, however.

"It was very funny, because I came to understand what it is to be a star," Wilms told The Star.

"We had a group photo of everyone who was in Telluride -- with George Clooney.

"And George Clooney was made up:  make up -- everything -- perfect. Even in a group photo in Telluride, where everybody is nice and everybody is great, he had perfect maquillage (makeup). Perfect!

"And I thought, 'Yeah, that's a real job to be a star!'" said Wilms, 64, laughing.

"He was the only one who was absolutely perfect. His teeth were absolutely white.

"That's Hollywood. That's a movie star! It's tough, though, because it's real work.  He's a nice guy, though."

-- Peter Howell.