Hobnobbing with movie stars at the Toronto International Film Festival, we caught an occasional glimpse of their all-too-human side. Who would suspect, for instance, that hunky Joaquin Phoenix has stage fright?

When he failed to show up for a post-screening discussion of his new movie, "The Yards," director James Gray joked that his star wasn't shy about exposing his butt on film but was too inhibited to face a live audience. Phoenix finally appeared, but let co-star Mark Wahlberg — who used to rap in front of 30,000 people — do the talking.

Don't look for Phoenix to join Shy People Anonymous. "I really have no interest in trying to get over my stage fright," he confided to us. "I don't expect to go into politics or become a rock musician."

He's content to make his mark as an actor. Besides "The Yards," he'll soon be seen as a priest ministering to the Marquis de Sade in "Quills," directed by San Francisco's own Philip Kaufman. "Phil was averaging three hours' sleep during filming," Phoenix said. "The rest of the time, he was coming up with ideas for the cast (including Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet and Michael Caine). Phil surprised me with something new every day."

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