Austin Butler Saw Ryan Gosling Outside His Hotel and Was Too Starstruck to Introduce Himself

Despite being a movie star himself, Austin Butler still gets starstruck.

While making an appearance on TODAY on Thursday, June 20, the Elvis star, 32, revealed to host Savannah Guthrie that a run-in with Ryan Gosling made him so nervous that he couldn't even say "hello" to the Barbie actor.

"I was just telling a story yesterday about getting starstruck by Ryan Gosling recently. It's when you don't expect to see somebody — so I saw him outside of a hotel that I was staying in, and I had to go into another door," Butler revealed. "I couldn't say hello. Because I grew up admiring him so much."

After Guthrie reminded Butler that he is also a star, Butler said, "I know. But that doesn't feel real."

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

The actor — who appeared on TODAY to promote his new film The Bikeriders — also reflected on a recent star-studded celebrity party he attended, hosted by none other than Paul McCartney.

Among the guests were Taylor Swift, Tom Hanks, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr, Butler said during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! earlier this week. (During his interview, Butler even revealed that Swift, 34, “was DJing at one point," although he did not specify what tunes the Eras Tour star was spinning. "She has to DJ at parties now.")

"Some people I know — Paul I've met a couple times. He's so sweet," Butler revealed to Guthrie, recalling another moment of feeling starstuck. "I had never met Springsteen, so that was really... Those are those moments that you just, you can hardly fathom the amount of talent that's surrounding you."

"I've been acting for 20 years, and you know, most of that time you just try to pay the rent and pay for gas, so right now I just feel very grateful," he added, looking back on how his career has evolved over the past several years.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Butler also took time to speak about The Bikeriders during his appearance. Directed by Jeff Nichols, the films follows the "rise of a fictional 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members," according to a press release. The film follows Jodie Comer’s character Kathy as she recounts the gang’s evolution throughout the decades.

The film is also inspired by Danny Lyon's photography book on bikers, and Butler recounted to Guthrie how he took inspiration from the interviews and photos in the book for his role.

"He took these amazing photographs — the best pictures that you've ever seen of motorcycle clubs. So there's this incredible romance around images. And then in the back of the book he interviewed them," Butler said. "Those are unvarnished. Just the humanity of them really comes forward."

The Bikeriders, which co-stars Comer, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon and Norman Reedus, opens in theaters on Friday.