Ryan Gosling Dreamed Of Starting A Family With Eva Mendes On Set: "I Didn't Really Want It To Be Pretend Anymore"
Eva Mendes' first pregnancy was a surprise, but Ryan Gosling says becoming a father was the best thing that could have ever happened to him.
Born on November 12, 1980, in London, Ontario, Canada, heartthrob Ryan Gosling was in the entertainment industry from a young age. He started out on Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club alongside future pop icons like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake. He later transitioned into more serious roles, demonstrating his versatility and establishing himself as one of the finest actors of his generation. His most popular movies include The Notebook, Drive, and La La Land. But there's one movie in particular that played an important role in his personal life. He starred in The Place Beyond the Pines in 2011, and shortly after he started dating his costar Eva Mendes. In a recent interview with GQ, Gosling opens up about how this romance changed his life forever and gave him the greatest gift of all: fatherhood.
Ryan Gosling Reveals He Dreamed of Starting a Family with Eva Mendes on Set
Away from the limelight, Gosling maintains a low-profile personal life. He began dating actress Eva Mendes in 2011 after they met on the set of The Place Beyond the Pines. Despite the intense public interest in their relationship, the couple has managed to maintain a level of privacy. They share two daughters, Esmeralda and Amada, and are regarded as one of Hollywood's most private and beloved families. Because they keep their romance and children private, many people have wondered how they actually fell in love.
Gosling says after he met Mendes, he couldn't imagine having children without her. "And there were moments on The Place Beyond the Pines where we were pretending to be a family, and I didn’t really want it to be pretend anymore," he admits. "I realized that this would be a life I would be really lucky to have.”
Their first daughter arrived in 2014, and it was kind of a surprise. He wasn't expecting it, but he says it was one of the best things that ever happened in his life.
“Eva said she was pregnant," he recalls. “I would never want to go back, you know? I’m glad I didn’t have control over my destiny in that way, because it was so much better than I ever had dreamed for myself.”
Over the last few years, before the Barbie hype started, Gosling hasn't appeared in any movies. That was intentional, as he and Mendes welcomed their second daughter in 2016 and he wanted to spend as much time at home with them as he could. They live in Southern California, and any time he shoots a movie, he brings Mendes and the girls on set with him so they're not apart. When he's not shooting a movie, he's usually just at home. He and Mendes don't have a nanny, so they parent their daughters independently, with the help of family that comes around from time to time. Gosling says if he ever doubts himself on how to be a father, he looks to Mendes.
"I just lean on Eva. She knows what’s important, always. She just somehow knows. So if ever I’m in my head about it, I just ask her," he says.
He also says his life changed completely the moment he met Eva Mendes, and it has just never been the same. "I was looking for her, you know?"
Ryan stars in Greta Gerwig's upcoming Barbie, releasing in July 2023.
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