The Australian drama The Eye of the Storm, directed by Fred Schepisi and adapted from the novel by Nobel Prize winner Patrick White, tells the story of Elizabeth Hunter (Charlotte Rampling), as her son and daughter return home to convene at her deathbed.  As Sir Basil (Geoffrey Rush), a famous but struggling actor in London, and Dorothy (Judy Davis), a broke French princess, attempt to reconcile with their formidable and tempestuous mother to ensure their inheritance, all Mrs. Hunter wants to do is choose when and how she will die.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, Academy Award-winning actor Geoffrey Rush talked about how he came to be a part of The Eye of the Storm, why he wanted to work with director Fred Schepisi, how gratifying it is to get such great feedback from American audiences about the film, how he went about understanding this character, and the awkwardness of doing sex scenes with the director’s daughter, Alexandra Schepisi, who was his co-star.  He also talked about the best part of being involved with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and that the script for the fifth film is currently in development, what attracts him to projects and roles now, and the film he just completed with Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso), called The Best Offer.  Check out what he had to say after the jump. 

In my article yesterday about the Venice Film Festival, I made some predictions on which films would make their world premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival and not Venice.  It turns out a few of my guesses were only the tip of the iceberg.  Moneyball, 50/50, and The Descendants are all going to premiere at TIFF.  But my lord, does Toronto have an incredible line-up this year.  I’m praying my application gets approved because when you hit the jump and check out this line-up, you’ll understand my agony if I’m stuck in Atlanta while these films are premiering.

Hit the jump for the line-up of Galas and Premieres for this year’s festival.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th – 18th.