Ryan Gosling Mistakes New Zealand For Australia In Hilarious AACTA Awards Skit with Russell Crowe
Ryan Gosling has confused New Zealand with Australia. The 34-year-old Canadian actor helped Kiwi-Australian star Russell Crowe present an award at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, or AACTA, via live feed from Los Angeles on Thursday, during which he made the glaring blunder.
But don’t worry, it was just a scripted but still adorable skit. And judging by the audience’s reaction in Sydney, they all thought it was pretty funny. His Aussie twang needed a little work, though.
Crowe, 50, was about to present the Best Supporting Actress gong live via satellite from the Baldwin Hills in Los Angeles when Gosling unexpectedly interrupted him. The younger actor thought at first Crowe won an award, then, misreading Crowe’s blank expression, he quickly, and incorrectly, surmised that he had lost.
“Sorry about that. You were robbed,” he said, adding that just by being nominated already made Crowe a winner. After Crowe explained that he was just going to present an award, he introduced the fully-clothed Gosling to the Sydney audience. That’s when he tried to impress Crowe and the rest of the audience with his Aussie accent.
“G’day, folk, how ‘ya doin?” a serious Gosling asked the audience. He also boasted that he was an “honorary Australian” because he “lived in New Zealand for like two years.”
“You know, New Zealand and Australia are totally different countries,” Crowe, who was born in New Zealand but was raised back and forth from NZ to Australia, corrected the Canadian actor. Gosling then asked Crowe to just cut out his gaffe from the tape, but again, Crowe said that it was a live feed.
His Aussie drawl might not pass for a local, but Gosling’s comedic timing was perfect. As for the claim that he has lived in New Zealand for a couple of years, that’s not false. He moved to the country at age 18 to film the series “Young Hercules” in 1998.
He is currently filming the crime mystery “The Nice Guys” with Crowe in California. The film also stars Matt Bomer and Kim Bassinger, and will hit theatres in 2016.