Seth Rogen, man with the ‘best heart and worst laugh’ in Hollywood, honoured at TIFF

TORONTO — Seth Rogen, described as the man with the “best heart and worst laugh in Hollywood,” received a top honour at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday night.

His frequent collaborator Anna Kendrick made the remark as she welcomed him on stage to accept the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award.

Rogen quipped that there was one “weird, specific Canadian reason” for his love of cinema: the desire to see naked women before the advent of the internet.

He was referring to the Drambuie Showcase Revue, a program that played independent films on basic cable each Friday night — including some that featured nudity.

“Through my desire to just, in some way, see a naked woman, I accidentally exposed myself to some of the greatest independent film of the eighties and nineties,” he said.

Several honourees at the TIFF Tribute Awards referenced the power of cinema, including Lee Chang-dong, the pioneering Korean director whose film “Possible Loves” is playing the festival.

Lee said he believes human-centred cinema is more important than ever given the rise of artificial intelligence, “which is without a sense of self.”

“When we as humans seem to be gradually losing our sense of self, I believe that cinema must continue to speak of the human condition — that which we still do not quite understand,” he said in Korean.

Sian Heder, whose film “Being Heumann” opened the festival on Thursday, also referenced the power of storytelling.

The movie follows Judith Heumann, a disabled activist who was instrumental in making the United States more accessible.

“Sometimes we don’t know how our work lands in the world. There’s this immediate response from an audience to a movie. There’s the laughs of the theatre or the sniffles, but we don’t always get to see the ripples of a film down the road and feel the lasting impact of a story in the cultural conversation,” Heder said as she accepted the award.

Earlier, on the red carpet, Heder said films “are there to create empathy.”

“If we can centre people in stories that haven’t been centred before, then that means we are opening ourselves up to people that are different from us,” she said.

Earlier in the night, Heder was star-struck as Prime Minister Mark Carney passed her on the red carpet. He received the warmest reception from members of the public gathered on Front Street outside the Fairmont Royal York Hotel where the awards took place. (Rogen got the second-loudest cheers.)

“A confident country welcomes in culture from all around the world,” Carney said on the red carpet. “We have 6,000 movie professionals from over 85 countries here right now; 700,000 visitors to Toronto right now, this week … because we have our culture, we love our culture, and we’ll always protect and promote our culture.”

Carney didn’t stay for the award show.

The annual fundraiser gala also honoured Helen Mirren with an award inspired by TIFF’s women’s empowerment initiative, Share Her Journey. Penelope Cruz, meanwhile, received the Special Tribute Award, which recognizes individuals who have made lasting and extraordinary contributions to film.

Rounding out the stars celebrated at the Tribute Awards are French actress Isabelle Huppert and Polish cinematographer Adam Pietkiewicz.

TIFF said proceeds from the gala will support expanded access to cinema and champion artists.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2026.