Toni Collette arrived on the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival on Tuesday with a markedly different look, debuting light blonde, tightly curled hair swept to one side and a sheer floral ensemble for the premiere of Wayward.
The 52-year-old actress paired a translucent floral top and matching skirt with strappy beige heels and carried a gold clutch. Her makeup was applied with a dewy foundation, nude lip and smoky eye. Collette has recently shifted from her trademark brunette colour to the lighter shade and has been experimenting with curlier, more voluminous styles.
Collette, whose career began to break nationally with 1994's Muriel's Wedding, has since appeared in a string of international films and television projects. Her film credits include The Sixth Sense, which earned her an Academy Award nomination, About a Boy, Little Miss Sunshine and Knives Out.
She is also among the cast of Mickey 17, directed by Bong Joon Ho, who won multiple Oscars for Parasite. The film is an adaptation of Edward Ashton's 2022 novel Mickey 7; Bong has said he reworked the premise and increased the number of times the protagonist is killed in the story, explaining at a press panel that "it's based on the novel Mickey 7, but we made it Mickey 17. The number is the number of times he dies. I kill him 10 times more. It's a story of a simple man. It's a sci-fi movie. It's hard to say sci-fi — it's a human story." Collette appears in the film alongside Naomi Ackie, Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo and Steven Yeun.
Collette continues to be active on both sides of the Atlantic. In March she travelled to London to begin work on a new, presently undisclosed project. Festival appearances have given the actress opportunities to promote recent work while also drawing attention for stylistic changes on the red carpet.
At TIFF, the Wayward premiere added to a week of screenings and events drawing attention from international talent and media. Collette's choice of a lighter hair colour and sheer, floral outfit was noted by photographers and attendees as a departure from her recent public image, underscoring an ongoing willingness to experiment with both roles and personal style over a three-decade career.