Vince Vaughn brought the house down as a presenter at the G’Day USA Arts Gala in Los Angeles on Thursday night in front of a roomful of Aussie VIPs.
“Her acting is good, very good,” the “Wedding Crashers” star said when presenting his Australian “Bad Monkey” costar Yvonne Strahovski with the Excellence in Film & Television Award at the American Australian Association event.
“At least that’s what she kept telling me every day,” quipped Vaughn in his signature delivery. “After a scene, she would go, ‘I don’t know if that scene works, but I really love what I did.’“
He also said of the star — whose credits include “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Chuck”: “Yvonne has accomplished all of these things as an actress while raising three wonderful boys alongside her husband [actor/producer Tim Loden] whom I’ve had the pleasure to meet, by the way. Although not Australian, [he seems] very Australian, very nice. Amazing. I thought he was from Australia, but… anyway, he’s brilliant.”
The gala also had some moving moments. Murdoch Children’s Research Institute co-chair Sarah Murdoch and professor Enzo Porrello updated the audience on the latest cutting-edge, impactful medical work being done at the institute.
“Looking around this room, I’m reminded how much Aussies punch well above our weight,” Murdoch said from the podium. She added, “At MCRI, we punch well above our weight. We are based in Melbourne, but we are a global powerhouse.”
MCRI is ranked second in pediatric research institutes globally with “many deep collaborations here in the US,” she said.
“We are Australian,” Murdoch told the crowd at The Lot at Formosa. “There’s something about Australia and Australians. We’re agile. We don’t wait around. And as a friend said to me yesterday, ‘We get s–t done.’ We should be so proud of Australian science and the discoveries that we’ve made that continue to make such an impact around the world.”
Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe received the Global Impact Award and made an impassioned speech about his odds-defying career and activism, detailing his surprising start as a kid who was allergic to chlorine and went on to win five Olympic gold medals.
(Murdoch fondly referred to Porello earlier as, “our gold medal champion,” adding, “I’m delighted to introduce one of the world’s most preeminent leaders in medical research.”)
Comedian Monty Franklin emceed the black-tie event. Musical performers included Boy Soda, Vanessa Amorosi, Oliver Cronin and Gordi.
Milly Alcock was honored with the Rising Star Award as presented by Craig Gillespie, director of her upcoming film, “Supergirl.”
She said via video from London that being Australian for her is about “this deep sense of identity, community… times like this remind me that no matter how far away we are, we’re still connected.”
Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell underscored the importance of cultural exchange, and the Hon. Steven Marshall AO and Andrew Liveris spoke about expanding cross-Pacific partnerships.
American Australian Association President Marshall said, “Tonight is about recognizing and celebrating Aussie talent here in the U.S. It’s always a night of extraordinary fun, but it’s also a fabulous fundraiser for our scholarships program at the AAA. Since establishing our first scholarship fund back in 2002, the association has provided nearly $19 million to 1,115 postgraduate arts veterans and Indigenous scholars.”
Attendees also included Radha Mitchell, Danielle Macdonald, Dion Beebe, Charmaine Bingwa, Eliza Taylor, Callan McAuliffe and Aisha Dee.
Established in 1948 by Sir Keith Murdoch, the American Australian Association is the leading privately funded non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening ties between the US and Australia.
