Hollywood A-lister Ryan Gosling and Kiwi chart-topper Dave Dobbyn are names you wouldn't normally link together.
But Gosling has revealed the "Dobster" is the reason he's unlikely to come back to New Zealand.
Gosling lived in New Zealand in the late 1990s while playing the title role in TV series Young Hercules.
During his time here he took a liking to Dobbyn's music but has admitted to Spy his renditions of the Kiwi songs didn't go down well with locals. "They wouldn't have me back," a laughing Gosling said. "They asked me to stay gone.
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"I was going around singing Dave Dobbyn at the top of my lungs [and they told me] enough of that. He's a national treasure and you're ruining it."
Gosling, 34, has come a long way since starring in Young Hercules, including earning an Academy Award nomination for 2006's Half Nelson.
He has taken a step away from acting for his latest project, making his writing and directorial debut with Lost River.
The dark horror-fairytale - which premieres on Sky Box Office on Friday night - tells the story of a mysterious abandoned city and a single mother (played by Christina Hendricks of Mad Men fame) trying to save her childhood home and keep the family together.
The project was a labour of love for Gosling, taking more than three years to complete.
The chance to step behind the camera was a welcome change for Gosling, whose heart-throb good looks and relationship with fellow Hollywood star Eva Mendes - who also stars in Lost River - has made him a prime target for paparazzi. The couple welcomed their first child in September.
"It's weird because your relationship to the world doesn't change, but its relationship to you does," he said of living in Hollywood's goldfish bowl.
Lost River will premiere on SKY Television's Box Office pay per view service, Channel 127, this Friday at 9.05pm
