Big stars take on real-life characters at TIFF 2014

Benicio del Toro brings notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar back to life inEscobar: Paradise Lost.

The based-in-real-life drama is just one of many true-life adaptations hitting the big screen at the Toronto International Film Festivalas filmmakers draw on heartfelthuman stories for cinematic inspiration.

• Onmobile? Watch the Escobar: Paradise Lost trailer here

Escobar: Paradise Lostcentres on a naive American surfer, played by Hunger Gamesstar Josh Hutcherson, who meets his dream girl. Not only is she captivating and beautiful, but she'sthe niece of the violent drug baron who made his millions smuggling cocaineinto the United States.

Del Toro, who won an Oscar for his role in another cocaine-dusted drama Traffic,sports Escobar's signature moustache.

While the plot doesn't centre on Escobarhimself, director Andrea Di Stefanotakes his camera inside the high-stakes world of Colombia's crime syndicate,offering theaudience a newangle on one the world's wealthiest criminalsand into South America's recent past.

Steve Carell as sinister John Du Pont

Director Bennet Miller (Capote, Moneyball) pointshislens on the darker side of American ambition again with his latest true-life drama: Foxcatcher.

• Onmobile? Watch the Foxcatchertrailer here

Foxcatcher focuses on the brutal 1996 murder of Olympic wrestling champion Dave Schultz (Channing Tatum) at the hands of the sinister and eccentricmillionaire John du Pont, played by Steve Carell.

John DuPont, the heir to the DuPont Co. chemicalempire, befriended a number of Olympians at the wrestling facility he founded inon his sprawling estate. That's where he trained and eventuallymurdered David Schultz a crime for which he was later convicted.DuPont died in prisonin 2010.

It's an unusually dark role for Carell, who established his career with comedies like the American version ofThe Office andThe 40-year-old Virgin. Carell's performance in Foxcatcheris already generating whispers of an Academy Award.

The film also stars Anthony Michael Hall, Vanessa Redgrave and Sienna Miller.

Cumberbatch takes on Alan Turing

Benedict Cumberbatch'sportrayal of the legendary British mathematician and wartime codebreaker Alan Turing inThe Imitation Game,is already generating Oscar buzz.

• On mobile? Watch The Imitation Game trailer here
• VIDEO|TIFF2014: 4 buzz-worthy films at the fest

Despite devising themachine that helped theAllied forceswin the Second World War,Turing's personal life was fraught with difficulty. In 1952, hewas arrested and convicted for homosexualityand forcedtoundergo chemical castration.

The Imitation Game, which alsostarsKeira Knightleyas famed mathematician Joan Clarke, follows Turing's brilliant rise through Britain's Bletchley Park to thewar hero's tragic demise.

Reese Witherspoongets real twice

ReeseWitherspoonis taking on two true life stories at TIFF.

The Oscar-winning actress brings to life Cheryl Strayeds best-selling memoir inJean-Marc Valle's Wild.Andshe plays a spunky American woman helpingfour Sudanese refugees in PhilippeFalardeau'sbased-on-a-true taleThe Good Lie.

• On mobile? Watch The Good Lie trailer here

It's certainly not the first time the 38-year-old actress has faced the challenge of playingreal-life characters. Witherspoon took the 2006 Academy Award for best actress for her portrayal of June Carter Cashin the Johnny Cash biopicWalk the Line.

WillemDafoe personifies Pasolini

WillemDafoe becomes iconicItalian filmmaker, poet and novelist Pier Paolo Pasolini in Pasolini.

The English-language biopic from provocative directorAbelFerrara (The Driller Killer, Bad Lieutenant) follows Pasolini's last day on Earth and thefinal hours leading up to his violent murder.

Pasoliniwas a prolific and polarizingartist who pushed boundaries on all levels. His work and life existed beyond the definition of counter cultureitbordered on the insane.

ForDafoe, there couldn't be a more complex character to sink his teeth into. Understanding the mind ofPasolinithrough his art is an enormous task, even for the most dedicated scholars.

Other notable characterizations to catch at TIFF includeEddie Redmayne as the acclaimed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in the Theory of Everything;Tobey Maguire's take onAmerican chess legend Bobby Fischer in Pawn SacrificeandGael Garcia Bernal becoming Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar BahariJon Stewart's directorial debutRosewater.

The Toronto International Film festival runs Sept. 4-14.