TORONTO - Last night, as I was leaving eTalk's fabulous after-party for "Blindness," an email message on my Blackberry came in at 12:49 am.

At first I thought I was reading things - it was an invitation to breakfast with actors Edward Norton and Tim Blake Nelson at 10:30 in the morning!

Of course, for journalists covering the Toronto International Film Festival, it's not about sleep, it's about access and I decided to go.

This morning I arrived at the Marriott Hotel on Bloor around 11:00 and joined 20 or so others, including journalists from Barbados to Croatia, two still photographers and a handful of the film's producers and publicists.

I helped myself to some breakfast buffet, chatted with the producers and within minutes, the actors arrived.

It was a casual setting in a small meeting room with us, two men dressed in jeans, casual shirts, and a film, "Leaves of Grass," which they were more than happy to talk about.

Tim Blake Nelson wrote the script for "Leaves of Grass" and had initially asked his friend and Oscar nominee Edward Norton to read it.

However, according to Norton, he wanted no part of this film. Norton, who has his own production company, Class 5 Films, said he was too busy to take on another project and feared if he read it, he would want to do it.

In fact, for months he refused to read the script for "Leaves of Grass" until a visit to his grandmother's house changed all that.

When Norton's grandmother went to take a nap, he found that he had some time on his hands and read the script. He was hooked.

"Tim's script is so original and unexpected. It made me laugh out loud. He's got a totally unique vision," said Norton.

With a production budget of $14 million, "Leaves of Grass" will be filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The film will feature two very different identical twin brothers; one an Ivy League philosophy professor, the other a brilliant and dangerous marijuana grower, both played by Norton.

"I cannot imagine a better actor for it. He's going to be extraordinary in both roles," said Tim Blake Nelson. Norton will also serve as one of the film's producers.

The film will also star Susan Sarandon as the mother of the twins, Richard Dreyfuss as a local drug lord (a role Blake Nelson calls "delicate") and love-interest Kerri Russell, who wowed the filmmakers with her leading role in 2007's "The Waitress."

Also cast: Lucy DeVito (Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman's daughter) and musician Steve Earle ("The Wire").

In addition to scriptwriter, Tim Blake Nelson will direct and appear in the film as a friend to one of Norton's twin characters.

This is Blake Nelson's fourth film.

The director also spoke of some of the difficulties he had in finding committed producing partners with the money to back up their promised funding. He says he had one painful experience when funding fell through for one of his films four years ago.

It still hasn't been made.

That's why he is happy to have Millennium's Boaz Davidson and Avi Lerner on board, who also funded his 2001 film, "The Grey Zone."

"A lot of people make promises that turn into paper mache. Everybody I know has had a not so pleasant experience when the money evaporates," says Norton.

Perhaps that's why he started Class 5 Films.

Norton says he's "a champion of a certain kind of taste" and wants to provide "The right kind of production support, right kind of vision. I'm not redirectable to a commercial sensibility."

Cameras start rolling on "Leaves of Green" in two weeks.

Norton is in Toronto to attend a Gala screening of another film, "Pride and Glory," in which he co-stars with Colin Farrell.

Andria Case is the weekend anchor with Tom Hayes for CTV News in Toronto.