TORONTO - In the space of a decade, Cory Monteith and Dustin Milligan have gone from working together at a Vancouver cake shop to co-starring in "Sisters & Brothers" at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"We used to dream about working in Hollywood together and being able to see some success together and now we are literally at the film festival together," marvelled Milligan. "Serendipitous."

"Sisters & Brothers," which also stars Gabrielle Miller of "Corner Gas" fame, tells the stories of four sets of siblings. It's the third instalment in Carl Bessai's family trilogy -- a followup to 2010's "Fathers & Sons" and 2008's "Mothers & Daughters."

Milligan, who appeared on TV's recent "90210" reboot, had worked with Bessai previously and told the Vancouver-based director he thought Monteith would be perfect for "Sisters & Brothers." The low-fi production used improvised dialogue and relied on handheld digital cameras.

Despite his success on the TV megahit "Glee," Monteith, 29, said he immediately signed on to "Sisters & Brothers" because it was a great opportunity to stretch as an actor.

"I didn't even have to think about it," said the Calgary-born performer.

"We had as much creative control over it as we wanted and somebody like Carl, whose been to the rodeo a couple of times, cutting it all together and providing the direction, so it just seemed like a no-brainer."

Joking around as they did interviews in a downtown hotel, Milligan and Monteith -- who play brothers in the movie and shot their scenes in just one day -- reminisced about their nine-year friendship, including their stint serving up desserts at Vancouver's True Confections.

Milligan says he owes the cake shop gig to Monteith, a self-described "stickler" for plating who recommended him to the shop manager.

"He definitely got me that job," said Milligan, 26.

"He gives credit where credit is due," added Monteith.

For Bessai, the low-tech "Sisters & Brothers" was a way to circumvent the arduous process of securing funding for a conventional film.

The actors, he said, relished the chance to put their creative stamp on the project.

"The real story (about this movie) is why would a guy like Cory Monteith, who is the lead in a major television success ... I mean that guy has 800,000 Twitter followers .... why is he doing it?" asked Bessai.

"Why is he out here ... on this 'no-fi,' unlit, handheld ... little movie? My view is that all of these people are there for the same reason. They're there to play, to stretch, to explore."

Monteith acknowledges that he took a risk with the low-budget project, but says he completely trusted Bessai and just couldn't pass it up.

"This is a great opportunity as an artist. You only get these every once in awhile to kind of be able to go completely off the page."

The Toronto International Film Festival runs until Sept. 18.