Canada granny squeezes George Clooney's face on red carpet

Elfriede Wolf gets her chance

When a Canadian grandmother met George Clooney, she did what many only dream of - she reached out and touched him.

A photo of Elfriede Wolf grabbing Mr Clooney's chiselled chin at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has gone viral and inspired many parodies.

The two met on the red carpet while Mr Clooney was promoting his latest film, Suburbicon, at the festival.

"He is very handsome," she told the BBC. "It was over in a moment, I was just so, so taken by that."

Mrs Wolf, who would rather not give her age, said she was attending TIFF with her daughter when they spotted the heartthrob.

"We were just waiting at the barricade for him to come up and greet the viewers and all of a sudden he was just standing across from me," she said. "I said 'George! My daughter loves you.'"

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Mr Clooney noticed her, turned and said "Oh my God!" she said.

"Before I know, I was holding his hand," she added.

Parodies proliferated online

She doesn't remember planning to grab his chin, and thinks it must have happened when he reached out to touch her hand.

"It just happened that my hand touched his face," she said.

Far from being bothered, Mr Clooney appeared to genuinely enjoy himself, she continued.

"He was leaning over and had a big smile on him," she said.

The photo, which was snapped by a TIFF photographer, has since gone viral and earned Mrs Wolf considerable media attention.

On Reddit, users shared their own Photoshopped parodies of the image, likening it to depictions of the works of Jane Austen and Shakespeare.