Actors Jacob Tremblay, left, and Brie Larson attend the press conference for "Room" at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Monday, Sept, 14, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Marta Iwanek

TORONTO - There's much hype surrounding "Room," which has its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Tuesday, but star Jacob Tremblay of Vancouver admits his friends are oblivious.

"They only know about one thing, that I'm in 'Smurfs 2,' because 'Smurfs 2' is the only kid movie I've done," said the eight-year-old actor, his feet dangling from a hotel room chair during an interview.

"But all the other ones are for adults. So they don't know what I've been in."

Based on Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue's award-winning novel, "Room" stars Tremblay as five-year-old Jack who lives with his mother — played by Brie Larson — in a shed that he thinks is the entire world.

His mother — a.k.a. Ma — was put in the shed years prior by a kidnapper who sexually abused her and fathered Jack. Lenny Abrahamson directs the cast that also includes William H. Macy and Joan Allen as Ma's parents.

"I never read the script because it was an adult book ... and I don't really understand adult movies," said Tremblay, letting out a few yawns but showing no apparent nervousness during an early morning press junket as his mother sat nearby.

"But my mom and my parents told me about the movie and that's how I know of it."

Tremblay said voicing the character Blue in "The Smurfs 2" made him want to be an actor.

Much of the animated adventure takes places in Paris and the idea that acting could one day bring him to the City of Light — and Disneyland — was enticing.

"Because if you film movies then you get to go to different places like California, or one day what if I get to go to JAPAN!" he exclaimed. "I want to go to Japan. Japan's awesome."

For "Room," Tremblay's parents sent in an audition tape of him.

Production began with the shed scenes, shot just outside of Toronto.

"I did lots of stuff here," said Tremblay. "I went to the aquarium, I went to see a hockey game, the Vancouver Canucks against the Toronto Maple Leafs. We didn't win, though."

During breaks on weekends, he ran his lines with his parents and played with his toys in his hotel room.

"I build anything out of Lego," he said. "I like Lego Star Wars. That's my favourite one. There's spaceships. They're all so cool."

Tremblay, who has two sisters, is equally passionate about dogs and he was thrilled to work with one in "Room."

"I love small, fluffy poodles," he said. "I fostered a small, fluffy poodle. It was red. It was cute."

He also loves getting dressed up in a suit and walking the red carpet, he said, and he's excited for Tuesday's premiere.

"I feel like a secret agent," he said with a giggle.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2015