Ryan Gosling imposter accepts prestigious German film award for La La Land

The prank was pulled off at the Goldene Kamera Awards where the look-alike accepted the award for best film.

Despite its critical success and various accolades, La La Land's record of being at the receiving end of award goof-ups continues to hold. This time, it was thanks to a Ryan Gosling impersonator who attended the Goldene Kamera Awards in Germany where he accepted the award for best film.

Ludwig Lehner, a 27-year-old cook from Munich pretended to be the Hollywood star as part of a prank orchestrated by two German comedians. Posing as a PR agency, pranksters Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf called the awards organisers to confirm that Gosling would attend the 4 March show if they name La La Land best film.

"The directors couldn't be here today, but someone else agreed to take the award and we are very happy that he is here today, because he is the reason this movie is a success," the presenter told a star-studded audience, which included the likes of Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell and Jane Fonda. "Men hold onto your wives, and wives hold onto your men. Here is the one and only Ryan Gosling."

Making a dramatic stage entry, Lehner, suited up in a tuxedo, accepted the award and introduced himself in a thick German accent. "Good evening, I am Ryan Gosling," he said, before adding, "I dedicate this prize to Joko and Klaas, thank you very much. There is a saying in Hamburg, which is, 'bye, bye!'"

While Lehnar does resemble The Notebook actor, it didn't take long for the audience to recognise the imposter and many simply looked confused.

"We were sure it would never work," Heufer-Umlauf told German media industry paper Meedia about the prank, which people are already referring to as #GoslingGate.