A Russian figure skater is making headlines and it’s not for his ability on the ice.
Alexei Rogonov, 29, and his partner Kristina Astakhova, 20, chose to perform to the theme tune of Oscar winning movie La La Land at the pairs free skate in PyeongChang on Valentine’s Day.
Taking to the ice in a white shirt, black trousers and yellow tie combo, the sandy haired skater joined his partner to perform the part of Sebastian Wilder, played by Ryan Gosling in the 1950s inspired old school Hollywood routine.
Seeing double: Russian figure skater Alexei Rogonov who performed a dance routine inspired by the movie La La Land with partner Kristina Astakhova, looks like Ryan Gosling
Inspiration: The skaters based their routine on the dance scene from the Oscar winning movie above, starring Ryan Gosling as Sebastian Wilder and Emma Stone as Mia Dolan
Taking to the ice: The 29-year-old skater and his 20-year-old partner only managed to place fourth in the pair skating free skating event on Valentine’s Day
Mimics: Their routine had a similar old school Hollywood feel, as seen in the movie which was filmed at the Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory
And Kristina was decked out in a yellow dress featuring the same collar detail as Emma Stone’s outfit in the movie, where she played the character of Mia Dolan.
And with his sandy hair and similar facial features, Alexei looked even more like Ryan Gosling’s character thanks to his outfit on the ice.
In the movie, the dance routine took place at the Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory.
Alexei and Kristina scored a total of 194.45 points for their retro routine, putting them in fourth place.
And while they only placed fourth, the couple nailed their perfectly choreographed routine, flawlessly landing their jumps in perfect synchronicity, unlike the actors in the movie who relied on body doubles to help them complete so of their more intricate moves.
Producers for La La Land initially denied body doubles were used, emphasizing that Gosling and Stone had spent months learning their routines, however they were later forced to admit doubles were used for some silhouette turns in the latter half of the observatory scene.
Doppelgänger: With his sandy hair and similar facial features, Alexei looked even more like Ryan Gosling’s character thanks to his outfit on the ice
Twinning: In the movie, Ryan Gosling wore a similar look
Scene stealers: However, Alexei’s resemblance was no match for American figure skaters Alexa Scimeca Knierim, 26, and Chris Knierim, 30 for their passionate embraces
While the figure skaters had Ryan and Emma beat in terms of their moves, at least one of them has a fair amount in common with their on-screen inspiration.
After the routine, Alexei’s resemblance to heartthrob Ryan was pointed out by one very eager writer for Cosmopolitan, who penned an entire piece about why the skater could serve as a good doppelgänger for his Hollywood counterpart.
‘Can we at least agree that someone with Rogonov’s profile could pull off a Gosling-esque “Hey, girl” pretty convincingly?’ writer Tess Koman asked.
And her argument certainly didn’t go unheard by some – with more than a few people on Twitter sharing her piece, while one person saying of the La La Land routine: ‘Missing this is one of my biggest regrets in life.’
But despite all the similarities, the celebrity doppelgänger was no match for married figure skaters Alexa Scimeca Knierim, 26, and Chris Knierim, 30 who have been stealing all the headlines for their actions on and off the ice.
The American Olympians have been getting the most attention for their passionate post-performance embraces and displays of affection.
On Valentine’s Day, Chris presented Alexa with a teddy bear and a note reading ‘Will you be mine?’ as the couple left the rink and waited for their scores to come through.