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Bill Nye's sister thought he won a Golden Globe after Jennifer Coolidge's Bill Nighy shout-out

Will the real Bill please stand up?

Bill Nye the Science Guy has revealed that Jennifer Coolidge's recent Golden Globes quip about mispronouncing names caused some confusion for his sister. The beloved brainiac had to clarify that he did not win an award and that Coolidge was in fact shouting out the English actor Bill Nighy.

"My sister called me, my sister!" Nye recalled to E! News. "[She asked] 'You won the Golden Globe?' No! That's the other guy." (For what it's worth, Nighy didn't actually win a Globe either, though he was nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture for his work in Living.)

Bill Nye; Jennifer Coolidge at the Golden Globes
Bill Nye; Jennifer Coolidge at the Golden Globes

Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images; Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Images Bill Nye; Jennifer Coolidge at the Golden Globes

Nye added that he's met Nighy before, and the actor confirmed that their last names are pronounced the same way.

"He was in a play called Skylight, and I went and saw it," Nye said. "Thought it was great. And then we both ended up at the [same] restaurant, and I took a selfie with him. He's a very nice guy. And he reassured us that he pronounces his name the same way I do."

At the Golden Globes last month, Coolidge had the room in stitches when she glided on stage to present the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series. The White Lotus star explained that she had some reservations about being a presenter, citing possible hiccups with the teleprompter and the perils of pronouncing of nominees' names.

"I was at a dinner party one night with, I'm not kidding, I sat next to Bill Nighy," Coolidge said, struggling with Nighy's last name. "Every time someone came to the table I was like, 'This is Bill NIGH-eee, Nigh-AYE.'" Then, referring to Kaley Cuoco, she added, "Across from me was Kaley Cucococo. It was just a disaster."

After the telecast, Nye posted a selfie with Nighy on Instagram and assured his followers that Coolidge's bit "was not about I." But, he said, "a few years ago, that Nighy assured this Nye that both of our names rhyme with 'guy.'"

Now can we get a film or TV project starring Nye and Nighy?

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