Students at Austin’s Texas School for the Deaf had a big surprise on Saturday, October 27th, when Ryan Gosling showed up at their annual Spooky Skedaddle 5K charity run. He popped in unexpectedly, helping get people excited and raising more money for the event.
Gosling has been filming for his latest movie in Austin lately and decided to take a break to go down to the school. Locals had spied him around town and near campus, but never suspected he would show up at the event. And he didn’t come alone, either; his current co-stars, Rooney Mara and Michael Fassbender, also came along.
Currently working on a film for Terrence Malick (not yet named), the three actors shot some B-roll while at the event. And thought they didn’t participate in the actual race, they certainly got people excited about the event.
All together, Gosling and his co-stars helped raise around $20,000. He also allowed a generous amount of photo ops with fans and was “extremely kind,” according to Anne Adams, the executive director of the school’s foundation. “Ryan is a wonderful person and we were delighted that they came,” she added.
Saturday saw lots of fans—no doubt unable to hide their excitement—posting Twitter and Facebook status updates, some with photos of the actors and hashtags like #bestdayever and #prayersanswered.
Gosling has supported a number of social causes during his career, including PETA, cleanup for Hurricane Katrina, and Invisible Children. He’s traveled to Chad to visit Darfur refugees, as well as Uganda and eastern Congo for work with the Enough Project.