Timing is everything. Forest Whitaker, the veteran actor-director, has come to Toronto to help promote Phone Booth, Joel Schumacher's "new" film, playing tonight as a festival Gala.

Problem is, Phone Booth was shot about two years ago. "It had to be two years, because I shot this while I was in rehearsals for Panic Room, and David (Fincher) takes a long time in editing."

As a conversational opener, I ask him about his new gig hosting the latest edition of The Twilight Zone, which will turn up on television this fall (check, as they say, your local listings). This immediately set us off for the 15 minutes of interview time on a long conversation about The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits and our favourite episodes of Night Gallery. Apologies to 20th Century Fox - we barely talked about Phone Booth at all - but then, give me more time and I would have.