Shia LaBeouf says learning tennis legend John McEnroesa国际传媒檚 style was like rehearsing a ballet.

LaBeouf stars opposite Sverrir Gudnason in sa国际传媒淏org/McEnroe,sa国际传媒� a film that recreates the match between McEnroe and Bjorn Borg at the 1980 Wimbledon Championships.

LaBeouf says the action scenes in the film were carefully scripted and choreographed to resemble the famous match.

Director Janus Metz added that some moviemaking sa国际传媒渕agic trickssa国际传媒� were used to sa国际传媒渟ellsa国际传媒� the actorssa国际传媒� performances, given they had never played tennis prior to the film shoot.

Although he spent countless hours learning about the sport, LaBeouf felt he never truly learned how to play.

The world premiere of sa国际传媒淏org/McEnroesa国际传媒� officially kicked off TIFF on Thursday, which runs through Sept. 17. Canadian tennis phenom Denis Shapovalov was set to walk the red carpet along with the filmsa国际传媒檚 stars for the gala screening.

sa国际传媒淲e rehearsed things like a ballet, including [McEnroesa国际传媒檚] outbursts. I would literally play them on a screen right before we would film and look at where everything was, and it was very paint-by-the-numbers in a way,sa国际传媒� LaBeouf said at a press conference.

sa国际传媒淵ou couldsa国际传媒檝e given me 20 years and I wouldsa国际传媒檝e never played like McEnroesa国际传媒�. I started learning it like a dance, I never actually played tennis, it was something different.sa国际传媒�

About 340 films will screen at this yearsa国际传媒檚 fest, which is a smaller number than in recent years sa国际传媒� a result of a TIFF mandate to trim the overall number of titles by 20 per cent. Organizers said they made the changes in response to feedback from audiences, the industry and the media.

Among the first celebrities to arrive in Toronto for the fest were Charlie Hunnam of sa国际传媒淪ons of Anarchysa国际传媒� fame, who stars in sa国际传媒淧apillonsa国际传媒� with Rami Malek of sa国际传媒淢r. Robot,sa国际传媒� Armie Hammer of sa国际传媒淐all Me By Your Name,sa国际传媒� and supermodel and musician Grace Jones, who is promoting a documentary about her life.

Other films in the lineup include sa国际传媒淪uburbicon,sa国际传媒� directed by George Clooney, Darren Aronofskysa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒渕other!sa国际传媒� starring Jennifer Lawrence and Alexander Paynesa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒淒ownsizing.sa国际传媒�

About a third of the films in the lineup are directed by women, including Angelina Joliesa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒淔irst They Killed My Father.sa国际传媒�

Other stars expected to attend the festival include Denzel Washington (sa国际传媒淩oman J. Israel, Esq.sa国际传媒�), Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba (both of sa国际传媒淢ollysa国际传媒檚 Gamesa国际传媒�) and Steve Carell and Emma Stone (co-stars of another tennis movie, sa国际传媒淏attle Of The Sexessa国际传媒�).

Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press

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