The New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2025 was a time of celebration of great movies and performances from the previous year that also included a great ribbing. As part of the awards presentation, actor Ethan Hawke had the honor of introducing the winner of Best Actress, Rose Byrne, to the stage at the Film Critics Dinner, but not without a rebuttal that was 16 years in the making.Hawke revealed at the podium that he discovered that Byrne had left a Goodreads review of his 1996 book The Hottest State back in 2010. In her review, given under her first name only, Byrne gave the book two out of five stars, saying that she read it because the book was “lazing around on set.” She ended her review with, “It's kind of like a Ryan Adams song but not as good.” — (@) The audience laughed as the gobsmacked Byrne took the stage and approached the microphone. Hawke laughed as well, greeting Byrne with a smile, a peck on the cheek, and a hug as she accepted her award for her performance in the film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.“I never thought you would read that review. Ever! Ever! Goodreads is so daggy, like, no one reads it,” Byrne declared with the crowd, and Hawke, laughing.While she didn’t care for his book at the time, Byrne was certainly a fan of Hawke’s overall, saying, “You are the most magical person and artist whose career I put on a pedestal. I had a poster of Dead Poet’s Society on my wall.” — (@) Byrne was referring to Hawke’s breakthrough film role in Dead Poets Society back in 1989 which led to him becoming a movie star and household name. — (@) Byrne then proceeded to continue her acceptance speech. In If Had Legs I’d Kick You, Byrne portrays a woman trying to hold it together as she deals with her child’s illness, a missing person, her absent husband, and a contentious relationship with her therapist while being a therapist herself.Film buffs quickly pointed out that this book review call-out reflected a past film the two had starred in together. In 2018, eight years after Byrne posted that Goodreads review, she co-starred with Hawke in the rom-com Juliet, Naked. In the film, Byrne’s character meets Hawke’s rock star character after leaving an anonymous negative review of his latest album. - YouTube youtu.be Everything was all in good nature, fun, with a sweet ending with Byrne saying this to Hawke before accepting her award:“Whether I see you on the street corner in Brooklyn or at a black tie event, your spirit is infectious, insightful, inspiring. I walk away having a better day.”