Shinan Govani: Star-gazing

Shinan Govani (pictured right), the National Post's resident gossip columnist, has written fantastic true stories of celebrity shenanigans, plastic surgery lies and restaurant woes. His column, "Scene," is the go-to read for Canadians who want the scoop on local gossip.

And gossip mongers are already in full swing at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Govani is about to get a lot busier; he will be flitting from movie premiere to party (at least 10 a day) to after-party, trying to find who hooked up with whom, who got too drunk and who threw a hissy fit.

Related: Celebs in Venice

Govani will also be hosting a party in honour of his first book "Boldname Faces;" a novel which follows Ravi, a gossip columnist, who stumbles upon the scoop of a lifetime and tries to figure out what to do with it.

Yahoo! Canada sat down with Govani (at the Four Seasons hotel no less) to get the inside scoop on the hottest TIFF parties, where to find the celebrities and his favourite scoop.

Yahoo! Canada: Where are the best TIFF parties this year?

Shinan Govani: Wherever Megan Fox (pictured left) is this year is not a bad place to be. I heard her publicist was calling around trying to get her name on other lists so as much as the layperson wants to get into parties, Megan Fox also wants to get into parties. She's at an interesting point in her career where I think we might all be looking at each other in a few years saying "Megan who?" or "what were we thinking" Because at this point her fame outweighs anything she's done. So she's trying to keep up with her own fame that she's created.

And of course the rooftop at the Park Hyatt is where all the A-list celebrities go, but it's impossible to get into.

Even Nigel Barker (a judge on 'America's Next Top Model') of all people is throwing a party to save the seals. Mena Suvari and Rachelle Lefevre will be there.

There are rumours of Vanity Fair throwing a party in Yorkville but I can't say more. It's related to a movie that Diane von Furstenberg's daughter has at the festival.

Yahoo! Canada: What have been your favourite TIFF moments?

Shinan Govani: I broke the story a few years ago about Colin Farrell (pictured right) helping out that homeless man. That was a good story; it made everybody happy. The best celebrity stories play to the basic narrative theme. So the fact that the "prince" so to speak was helping out someone who was down on his luck, the prince and the pauper, literally. That to me is like a title story.

I danced with Bjork at the Amber on the patio. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were there too. [My friend and I] started dancing and Tilda Swinton and Bjork stood there and watched us and I was vaguely aware that both of then were watching me dance and it made me self-conscious and titilated me at the same time. And shortly after I went up to them and introduced myself and started talking to Tilda and she said that she told Bjork "if only we had half that man's energy we would have amounted to something." Ten minutes later "Satisfaction" comes on and Bjork comes to me and extends her hand and she's wearing blue makeup; she looks like a smurf. No words. And I extend my hand and I feel like Courtney Cox and she's like my Bruce Springsteen and we dance for I think 30 seconds but then some guy whispers in her ear "I think we have to go" and still no words have been exchanged. She runs away. Almost like the mothership came for her. It was her bedtime or something it was really weird. So it's hard to beat that.

Yahoo! Canada: Where are the best celebrity watching spots?

Shinan Govani: Rooftop of the Park Hyatt. The Park Hyatt has carved out its place as a place where you want to go after all the other parties. It's going to be easier to get into the U.S. than getting into the Park Hyatt. It will be like border control.

Definitely getting a patio seat at One during this time of year is good and also the Hazelton hotel is good for star spotting. I would also recommend going to the less obvious places like Ame (pronounced ah-may) and Spice Route on King has a few things planned.

But i think the spheres of influence in terms of where the festival happens has sort of expanded over the years. There's a lot of energy in Yorkville certainly. You can do worse than sitting at the Starbucks because celebs need coffee just like us.

Related: Celebs in Venice 

Yahoo! Canada: Why do celebrities like partying in Toronto so much?

Shinan Govani: A lot of parties in Cannes happen in the hills 45 minutes away in an ancient castle. Toronto has the benefit of being a city which is fairly easy to navigate and if you're from New York it's a smaller scale but easy to navigate and a lot of them are familiar with Toronto because they've shot here and they've had good experiences here.

So many movies have been launched for Oscar fanfare in Toronto so there's a good vibe going on, whether it's "Slumdog Millionaire" or going back to "American Beauty" you can name any number of best actors, best movies which got their buzz in Toronto.

Yahoo! Canada: Which actor at TIFF should we watch out for?

Shinan Govani: Carey Mulligan (pictured left) is the actress to watch (her movie "An Education" is opening at TIFF.) Two weeks from now after the festival is over we'll all be talking about her. And that's one of the great things about the festival; you see it happen in front of you. And she's really good in [the film.] She has charm in spades and you like watching her face. All the important critics are now saying that she's this year's Ellen Page. Like she's the one who will get an Oscar nomination.

Yahoo! Canada: Which celebrities have impressed you?

Shinan Govani: I was impressed with Renee Zellweger. I had french fries with her of all things. She eats french fries, you heard it here first! She was shooting "Chicago" here and I found her to be earnest. She really cared about issues and what she was saying. She took a lot of deliberate care about her words and I appreciated that.

And one year I met Liza Minnelli and that stands out. I remember saying later it wasn't like meeting an average celebrity; it was like meeting the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building. It was like an icon came and sat in your living room for a few minutes. The thing about her was that I don't think Liza knows how not to be Liza and she's that rare celebrity where she was born famous and has been famous since then so she's always on. She was lovely because she knows that you have to make a performance. Thats something that several of the less seasoned, sometimes its the C-list celebrities who don't get that, that the life is the performance. You have to summon up that energy and give it and bring it.

Yahoo! Canada: Why did you write "Boldface Names"?

Shinan Govani: My editor talked to me and said to write a book. I could have written non-fiction but decided fiction was a lot more interesting. Fake stories about real people and real stories about fake people and fake stories about fake people. I try to decipher all of that and it was fun for me to do. I've been doing the celeb racket for a while and I wanted it to be covered and make it official. Stop dating around, commit!

Yahoo! Canada: Are the characters and storylines based on real people and events?

Shinan Govani: For certain. There are people who are real and the satire is very arch and it's easier to figure out who they are. Others came from the ether, that weird place called the imagination. I like the idea that people will make up their own theories. People come up with interesting takes on characters. I don't think there's been a book come out of the Canadian experience but I wanted to make it as genuine a study as possible with Toronto characters and places, so it's about us for a change but I made it more accessible.

None of these places or people have that mythological weight unless they are mythologized in song or movies or books. Hopefully I can bring that to the table as a guy who goes to a lot of parties so I have those stories. And I didn't want the book to be like having a V8, I wanted it to be like a movie; I wanted it to be mythologized and making social commentary but at the end of the day I wanted it to be fun.

 Related: Celebs in Venice

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