Chris Rock embraces the expectations surrounding ‘Misty Green’ after TIFF world premiere

The filmmaker says he has enjoyed being behind the camera, while his daughter Zahra Rock celebrates his latest film and its star-studded cast.

Chris Rock is no stranger to high expectations, but the comedian-turned-filmmaker is taking the growing buzz around his latest movie, “Misty Green,” in stride.

Rock spoke with eTalk on the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film made its world premiere. His daughter, Zahra Rock, appeared alongside him and shared how proud she was of her father, saying she had heard “nothing but good things” about the movie, its cast and the work that went into making it.

Written and directed by Rock, “Misty Green” stars Rosalind Eleazar as a former Emmy-winning actress struggling to revive her career in an unforgiving Hollywood. The cast also includes Adam Driver, Daniel Kaluuya, Anna Kendrick, Topher Grace, Anthony Anderson and Rock himself. According to A24’s official synopsis, the film follows “a talented actress whose career has stalled as she fights for a second act.”

The TIFF audience and critics have already taken notice of Eleazar’s performance. The Associated Press called it “one of the best performances of the year,” while other reviews have described the British actress as one of the festival’s major discoveries.

For Rock, however, the attention is also about his evolution as a filmmaker. “Misty Green” marks his first feature since 2014’s “Top Five,” which also screened at TIFF.

“I like directing. I like it a lot,” Rock told eTalk, adding that he hopes to direct more films. He joked that one benefit of directing a movie in which he has a relatively limited acting role was only having to “get dressed eight days” during the 25-day shoot.

Rock also has a longstanding relationship with Toronto. He brought “Top Five” to the festival roughly a decade ago and said the experience “went really, really well.” He added that performing stand-up in Toronto has also been a positive experience.

As for the expectations surrounding “Misty Green” before many people had even seen it, Rock wasn’t sweating it.

“Do you go to a restaurant expecting it to be bad?” he joked. “I’ve been doing this a while.”

The early response suggests Rock may have another successful Toronto experience on his hands. As he put it, he hopes his years in the business have given audiences “a level of consistency” — and now “Misty Green” has the chance to deliver.