In Conversation With... Chris Rock

Live captioning will be provided for this event.

As he presents the TIFF ’26 World Premiere of his latest film Misty Green, Emmy and Grammy Award–winning director, writer, actor, producer, and comedian Chris Rock joins us for a conversation about his multi-faceted career in front of and behind the camera. After his breakthrough on Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s — as part of an iconic cast that included Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, and David Spade — Rock re-defined the landscape of stand-up comedy with his sharp, incisive special Bring the Pain (1996). The groundbreaking set catapulted him to superstardom and earned him two Emmys. Tackling socio-political issues like race relations, class division, and the justice system with piercing fervor, Rock has crafted an indelible onstage persona over the past three decades. Beyond stand-up, his career spans Hollywood blockbusters, hit television series, and acclaimed independent filmmaking. He produced and starred in the lauded documentary Good Hair (TIFF ’09), which won the Special Jury Prize Documentary at Sundance, and later moved into the director’s chair for the deeply personal Top Five (TIFF ’14). He returns to the Festival with Misty Green, a film destined to further cement his status as one of Hollywood’s most original creative voices.