“Rose Byrne found herself in a toe-curlingly awkward position at the Film Critics Circle Awards in New York on Tuesday when the presenter, actor Ethan Hawke, called her out on stage. ”, — write: www.dailymail.co.uk
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By MONIQUE FRIEDLANDER, ASSISTANT SHOWBUSINESS EDITOR, AUSTRALIA
Published: 02:41 GMT, 9 January 2026 | Updated: 02:42 GMT, 9 January 2026
Hawke was handing her the Best Actress award for her performance in If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You, when he decided to dredge a decades-old online review Byrne had written about his first novel, The Hottest State.
Posted in 2010 under the username ‘Rose’ on Goodreads, the review gave the book two stars.
The actress wrote: ‘Released 13 years ago so I am a bit behind but found it lazing around on set and was a lovely easy read for a couple of days.’
‘It’s kind of like a Ryan Adams song but not as good,’ she brutally added.
At the time of her review, Byrne would have been filming her TV drama Damages.
According to celebrity blog Showbiz411, ‘Hawke was howling as he recalled finding the review on the GoodReads website.’
Clips of the ceremony show Byrne visibly embarrassed as she stepped onto the stage to accept her award.
‘Thank you, Ethan … I never thought you would read that review. Ever! Goodreads is so daggy, like, no-one reads it,’ she said, quickly turning the moment into a compliment: ‘You are the most magical person and artist … I had a poster of [Hawke’s 1989 film] Dead Poet’s Society on my wall.’
Some fans noted the situation’s uncanny resemblance to the 2018 rom-com Juliet, Naked, in which Byrne’s character writes an anonymous negative review of Hawke’s rock star character’s album – only for him to track her down in person to thank her for her honesty.
It comes as Byrne is tipped to earn her first Oscar nomination for her lead role in the intense new psychological drama, If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You, portraying a mother struggling to hold her life together.
If she does win the Oscar, Byrne will become one of only three Australian actresses to ever take home the Best Actress prize.