Ryan Gosling gave a wannabe actress coaching after seeing her rehearsing in a caf.

The Hollywood icon was enjoying a coffee with one of his friends when he noticed the girl on the table next to him was feverishly reading a script.

He enquired whether she was preparing for a role, and the unknown lady explained she had an audition for a TV pilot. Ryan immediately offered to help her practice.

"He moved to her table and spent 20 minutes coaching and offering tips," National Enquirer reports.

Afterwards Ryan shook the woman's hand and wished her luck. He added that he thought she'd be appearing on television before too long.

Ryan has previously admitted he thinks some people take acting too seriously. He loves his job but insists it isn't as difficult as many of his contemporaries would have people believe.

"Acting isn't that hard, really. I mean, I think that people make a big deal about it, but you just kind of try to say your lines naturally. You try to make them sound like you're saying them for the first time, but that's about it," he said. "I think that it's an interesting job. I think that you can sort of have your own personal journey and you know, you can just kind of apply that to whatever characters you're playing."