Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts open 40th Toronto Film Festival

Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts got the 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival in Canada off to a stylish start on Thursday night (10Sep15) with the world premiere of their new drama Demolition.

The couple hit the red carpet to promote the film, in which Gyllenhaal plays an investment banker coping with the car crash death of his wife.

Thrilled to be back at the festival, Gyllenhaal told reporters, "There's an energy here. I think there's a sense of supporting an artistic vision, not that many other cities in the world don't have that, but Toronto in particular has a sense of freedom. There's very little judgment in artistic expression here, and I think that's why people come here."

He is also a fan of Canadians, having worked with two of the country's finest directors Denis Villeneuve and Jean-Marc Vallee on the films Prisoners and Demolition.

He added, "I think it has something to do with them being part of this soil. They just have a sense of creativity and freedom, where someone told them a long time ago their expression was cool and they should keep doing it."