When the Stranger Things actress was asked if it were true that her father had to catch a Greyhound bus in order to make it to the annual event, she replied, “He did! Everyone’s talking about it!”
“He had to take the bus here ‘cause all the flights got canceled,” she added as her proud papa smiled beside her.
“Three flights canceled, then I was like, ‘I’m not gonna miss this because of some airport,” Ethan said.
The Emmy Award winner added, “So, I went to port authority and hopped the bus.”
“Man, nobody cares about anybody else on the bus,” Ethan said while noting that “nobody’s comfortable” when resorting to that particular mode of transportation.
He reiterated that “Nobody cares at all,” before sharing how he spent his time on the journey.
“I just read my book and disappeared in the back and prayed that we made it,” he shared. The Before Sunrise alum revealed that they managed to make it all the way to customs before anyone noticed who he was just before dawn.
The famous father-daughter duo then shared what it means to them to be able to work on the project together.
“The making of the film was unspeakably special and one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Maya, 25, said.
She also opened up about how it felt to be able to have the Wildcat premiere at TIFF amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
“To get to be at this festival and to have approval from our union during a strike, to be here and celebrate film and independent film and to get to see this movie in an audience, which is so rare now, is just the ultimate privilege,” Maya shared of the opportunity to share the movie with fans and her peers.
Ethan, still standing beside his daughter, added that he was “really proud” of all that she’s accomplished. She returned his praises, adding that she was “really proud of him, too.”
Once inside the event, he said a few short words before introducing the film to audience members.
“If you see anything else tonight, what you’re going to see is a young artist just circle around their father and sprint out the door, pat him on the a-- as she goes by,” he said of Maya’s work in Wildcat as audience members laughed.
The Magnificent Seven talent continued gushing about his eldest child’s latest project, adding, “This is one of my favorite performances I’ve ever seen, and I can’t wait for you guys to see it.”
Wildcat follows the life of American novelist Flannery O'Connor as she struggles to publish her first book with Maya taking on the lead role with Ethan as the film’s director.
