He arrived at 5am yesterday on the red-eye from LA. It was supposed to be a full day of press followed by his carpet at Ryerson. He came to our etalk Lounge at the Intercontinental. The girls could barely hold their quiver together. Laura won’t admit it but she was ready to give up Robert Pattinson.

Anyway, we have a David’s Tea booth set up in there and Ryan was all over it. That’s when we found out he was sick. He sent his assistant back several times for tea refills and eventually had to cancel some interviews. Because he wanted to save up some energy for the premiere. And of course the fans.

I’ve heard from many of you who waited to see him yesterday. And all of you can attest to the fact that he was great. He spent a lot of time signing, posing, and talking – asking questions, having real conversations, actually expressing interest in other people, people like Jayson who wrote:

Lainey,

Blue Valentine was my top choice at TIFF but I couldn't get tickets. I tried fervently. At 3PM the rush line was already too long. So I decided I would check out the carpet. When he arrived he went straight to the press and I thought he was going to bypass the fans (not that I would be complaining...seeing him in person was enough for my loins alone). Finally, he started making his way to the crowd and was so kind. He was taking pictures and talking with everyone. When he got to me I got him to sign the sleeve of "Half Nelson" and as he signed I told him that I really appreciated his work. At that point, he stopped, looked me in the eye and asked me if I was an actor. When most would smile and move on he stopped to ask me more. I barely remember what I said but he smiled, listened, looked at me and wished me luck before he moved on to the next person. I am literally still on a high because of him.

Lovely, right?

And inside it was more of the same during the Q&A. He had his young co-star with him the entire time, complied when somebody asked him to sing Happy Birthday (eye roll!), and wore the motherf-cking sh-t out of his suit.

So get Ryan Gosling OFF your Freebie 5. WHY would you want just one meaningless night? What is wrong with you?


Photos from Todd G/Splashnewsonline.com and Gettyimages.com