Photo By Steve Ramos

Acclaim and extra attention for actress Patricia Clarkson goes back to the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, where she starred in four films.

The best example of a celebrity actress calling the shots at the recent Toronto International Film Festival is a private press conference set up for Nicole Kidman at Toronto's Four Seasons hotel. The event is an invite-only affair, and the rules are strict: No photographers; journalists are forbidden from approaching Kidman's table; tape recorders are to be turned on before she enters the room. That's life at the top.

In the courtyard of the nearby Inter-Continental Hotel, the unofficial festival headquarters and location for most interviews and photo ops, crowds of journalists and photographers squeeze into a paneled bar, adjacent restaurant and outdoor area too small for the hubbub.

Actors and filmmakers move from table to table, pausing to say hello to friends, then continuing to rattle off a series of interviews. The atmosphere is hectic but friendly. It's the Toronto Festival at its best, and it's the spot one can find actress Patricia Clarkson, 43, a Yale-educated, stage veteran participating in interviews on behalf of her movies Pieces of April, The Station Agent and the film she stars alongside Kidman, Dogville.

Katie Holmes plays the lead character, April, in writer/director Peter Hedges' family drama Pieces of April, about an East Village twentysomething attempting to reconnect with her family by hosting Thanksgiving dinner. Clarkson is receiving the lion's share of attention as April's ill mother, Joy.

In The Station Agent, a model train repairman, Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage), looks to continue his loner lifestyle after relocating to a vacant train depot in rural New Jersey. He ends up befriending a fellow recluse (Clarkson) and the chatty operator of a snack van (Bobby Cannavale).

Back at the Inter-Continental Hotel, Clarkson works hard, completing a marathon of interviews, smiling gratefully for the opportunity to talk about movies she's proud to support. Her good spirit is infectious, aware of the serendipity of having a number of films coming out at the same time.

"It's exhausting, but it's actually good in a way because it draws attention to other things," Clarkson says after retreating to a quiet hotel room, turning sentences into music thanks to her rich New Orleans accent. "I think the fact that I have all these films is bringing attention to smaller films and things I've done. It's all good."

In another world, Clarkson would be more like Kidman, the type of famous actress whose one gesture is enough to create a flurry of flashbulbs. Instead, she is something rare and more precious: a veteran actress enjoying a career renaissance in an industry that pays more attention to starlets.

Clarkson's year of living famously began at the best spot for film career comebacks and reinventing one's public persona, the Sundance Film Festival.

This year's candidates for "Sundancing" their careers include Robert Downey Jr. in The Singing Detective, a remake of Dennis Potter's landmark BBC-TV miniseries; Home Alone star Macauley Culkin plays murderous club kid, Michael Alig, in Party Monster and one-time child star Tatum O'Neal stars in The Technical Writer.

The difference between Clarkson and many of her Sundance peers is that she's not looking to remake her image. Her goal is subtle, more typical. She wants recognition for the independent films she's proud to be in and, perhaps, some recognition for herself.

Images from the 2003 Sundance Film Festival include photos of visiting celebrities like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, Pop star Britney Spears and veteran actor Al Pacino. The paparazzi photos quickly fade from memory after the last publicist leaves Park City. The films and performances are what matters. Everything else, Oscar nominations included, are perks.

"Awards are good," she says. "They're exciting, they're glamorous, they're fun. I hate people who knock awards. Who doesn't want to be nominated for an Oscar or win? I remember at the Emmys I was wearing these incredible Halston dresses. Poor me! It doesn't get any better than that. It's so cool. It's the best."

It has been a good year for Sundance films. Feel-good, coming-of-age stories like Bend It Like Beckham and Whale Rider attracted plenty of attention. The teen drama thirteen received much critical praise. The commercial success of documentary films like Capturing the Friedmans and Spellbound put documentaries into the limelight.

Clarkson has four Sundance films to her credit: Pieces of April, All the Real Girls, The Station Agent and The Baroness and the Pig. Two of these (Pieces of April and The Station Agent) have good chances at finding sizable audiences.

In Toronto, one sees first-hand how the celebrity life is usually out of control. Clarkson is an actress, not a celebrity, and Pieces of April director Peter Hedges knows the difference.

"I'm proud of most of what I've done and especially the films I've done recently," Clarkson says. "I can't tell you how much I loved shooting the films I have here at Toronto, and they were difficult films to shoot. They were guerilla filmmakers because we had no time or money. I have such a dear place in my heart for these directors and actors. I have memories of car drives of me and Oliver (Platt) in Pieces of April. Improvising in The Station Agent. I loved it."

The credibility that comes from starring in popular movies is real and legitimate, but Clarkson has already moved to bigger and better goals. The allure of celebrity means nothing compared to a string of great performances. The surprises vary among the roles. Clarkson is ready for the flashbulbs and the extra attention.

"There is a difference between (being a) celebrity actress and being a great actress, and Patty is a great actress," says Hedges, speaking recently. "There are a couple of directors, and we have made a pact to do whatever it takes to make the world know about her. She is incredible, and I can't think of anyone more deserving."