The 57th BFI London Film Festival closed last night with the world premiere of Saving Mr Banks starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson.
It wrapped up two weeks of film fun in the capital which saw 150,000 people attend screenings of 235 films. That’s a lot of popcorn.

ELLE was there during week 2 to catch up with the stars.

On Thursday Carey Mulligan attended the premiere of the new Coen brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis, about the folk scene in 1960s New York, wearing a bright yellow dress.

She plays a folk singer opposite Justin Timberlake in the film and admitted she didn’t have any singing lessons to prepare, ‘I winged it. It was kind of hilarious, I was really nervous and when we started it was slightly comedic so we just embraced it, mimicking musicians from that time’.

Another star who embraced his musical side for his role as a vampire in Only Lovers Left Alive was ELLE favourite Tom Hiddleston, who plays the guitar, violin and even the lute in the film.

Take a look at our short video below of Tom on the red carpet where he explains his preparation to play a character who, like Anne Rice's Lestat, is a musical prodigy.

Tom told ELLE, ‘I looked to musicians like Keith Richards and Syd Barrett as well as the romantic poets, Byron and Shelley, to create this very melancholic character’.

So can Hiddleston fans, who were definitely the loudest on the festival’s red carpet, look forward to an album any time soon? 'I think that would be a bad idea!!'

On his co-star Tilda Swinton he said, ‘She’s amazing to work with; completely unique as a woman and an actress and so warm, wise and intelligent’.

Joseph Gordon Levitt, the writer, director and star of Don Jon was on the red carpet on Wednesday and explained what compelled him to make a film about porn addiction: ‘I think it’s important to pay attention to how media impacts how we see the world, whether it’s porn or movies of pop songs on the radio’.

Former ELLE cover star, Scarlett Johansson plays his Jersey Shore-style, brash love interest in the film and the actors share one particularly saucy scene, so how many times did they film it? ‘Oh not too many times’ Joseph laughed, adding, ‘Scarlett’s brilliant in the movie, she really transformed herself and was a lot of fun to work with’.
‘The shoot was very collaborative, my favourite moments are when the artists I was working with surprised me so I tried to create an environment where that could happen’

So, now that the festival is all over, which films did ELLE love?

Here is our top 5:

Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are two astronauts left clinging to life by the tips of their fingers when a routine mission goes wrong in this 3D space thriller.

12 Years A Slave
ELLE Man of the Week Michael Fassbender is reunited with his Shame director Steve McQueen in this powerful slavery drama, also starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Under the Skin
One of the stars of the festival, Scarlett Johansson is unrecognisable as a man-eating alien on the prowl in Scotland.

Enough Said
The late, great James Gandolfini plays a middle-aged divorcee who strikes up a relationship with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s chirpy masseuse in this sweet comedy of manners (which your Mum will love too).

Blue is the Warmest Colour
This candid love story between two young women, starring Lea Seydoux and newcomer Adele Exarchopoulos, might be three hours long and beset by controversy, but is worth the hype.

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