Ryan Gosling made the day, maybe the month, or even the year, of an east-end Toronto cafe owner this week.

The movie-star was in Toronto for the TIFF premier of his latest film, First Man, the story of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.

Joelle Murray is the owner of Grinder Coffee and she had launched a social media campaign on September 3rd, posting photos of herself with a life-size cardboard cutout of Gosling, promising 15 per cent off if he showed up at Grinder Coffee during TIFF.

Joelle Murray and her “Ryan needs Grinder” campaign.

But the discount went out the window when Gosling walked through the door.

“He was very well-spoken, a wonderful Canadian boy with very good manners”

“I pounced upon him with pure love and admiration,” Murray told CBC Radio. 

“I was so giddy that I forgot my quest to make money and I went: ‘Of course you can have a free cup of coffee,'” she explained.

Ryan Gosling, the A-list actor, born in London, Ontario, dropped by in the mid-afternoon on Monday, to say hello and greet patrons in the cafe, a 20-minute drive from the main festival strip.

“He was an incredibly great sport.”

Murray said Gosling told her he had seen the tweets and found them “humorous,” but that it was his mother who told him to visit.

“He made it seem that he enjoyed meeting me as much as I enjoyed meeting him,” said Murray, who estimates Gosling popped in for about two minutes to greet her and a handful of patrons.

“And it was a lovely feeling. He was very well-spoken, a wonderful Canadian boy with very good manners.”

This is the final weekend of TIFF.

(With files from CBC)