A Ryan Gosling impersonator has pulled off an impressive prank at a top German awards ceremony, striding onto stage to make an acceptance speech in front of surprised A-Listers.

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While "this is not a joke" went down as one of the most iconic lines in Oscars history as team La La Land realised mid-speech that they had not, in fact, won Best Picture, what happened on stage at the Goldene Kamera Awards most definitely was a joke.

After much build-up, host Steven Gaetjen introduced the star of La La Land to the stage to accept the trophy for this year's surprise category, Best International Film.

“The directors couldn’t be here today but someone else agreed to take the award,” he told the audience in German. “And we are very happy that he is here today, because he is the reason this movie is a huge success.”

He continued, “Men hold onto your wives and wives hold onto your men, here is the one and only Ryan Gosling.”

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But sadly, the real Gosling had not made it to the ceremony. Instead, German comedians Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf inserted their own version of the A-List actor.

Ludwig Lehner, a chef from Munich who looks vaguely Gosling-like, swaggered onto stage, shook hands with the perplexed host (who muttered: "interesting") and grabbed the mike to give a few "thank you's" to the two comedians before legging it backstage.

Nicole Kidman found the whole thing hilarious, though Colin Farrell sat stony-faced – and Jane Fonda just couldn't deal with the shock.

The Goldene Kamera organisers had reportedly agreed to various demands in their attempt to get Gosling to the ceremony. Fake-Gosling never had to meet the host beforehand, didn't walk the red carpet, and was surrounded by handlers before the show to shield him from prying eyes.

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The comedy duo set up the prank for their TV show Circus Halligalli, but admitted to German publication Meedia afterwards: “We were sure it would never work." Looks they were as shocked as Jane Fonda when they pulled the whole thing off.

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