A Ryan Gosling impersonator attended German film awards show Goldene Kamera, where he accepted an award for “La La Land” on behalf of the real actor, who was not in attendance.
In a clip from the event, the host is heard announcing to the audience, “Here is the one and only Ryan Gosling.”
But instead of the “La La Land” star, a lackluster substitute walked out on stage, much to the surprise of the star-studded audience, which included Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell and Jane Fonda, reported People magazine.
The impersonator, who bears a slight resemblance to the actor, spoke in a thick German accent while giving his acceptance speech, before saying “bye-bye and walking away with the trophy in hand.
Fortunately, the audience members seemed to take the prank in stride – for the most part. Kidman was seen laughing, while Farrell seemed less impressed, staring at the stage stone-faced.
The awards show itself did not appear to be in on the joke, as host Steven Gatjen appeared visibly perplexed.
The stunt seems to have been orchestrated by German comedians Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer, who star on the German comedy show Circus HalliGalli.
According to a video the comic stars posted on YouTube, they came up the scheme as a way of claiming a Golden Camera award for their show.
Since they weren’t nominated for anything, they figured they could steal a trophy by sending someone to impersonate a famous actor.
The Gosling impostor is identified in the video as Ludwig Lehner, a chef from Munich.
Somehow the comedians were able to convince the awards show that the real Gosling was making an appearance.
The pranksters assembled an entire team to pull off the stunt, surrounding the fake Gosling with handlers who attempted to shield him from the gaze of event organizers.
