Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling Dave Allocca/Startraksphoto.com
When Ryan Gosling was asked who his “heroes” are, he couldn’t help but give a sweet shout-out to his longtime love, Eva Mendes.
“Well, Eva, obviously,” Gosling, 43, replied during an interview with Men’s Health published on Monday, April 22. “And my uncle Bill. When I was in school, he said, ‘I’m gonna put all your achievements in a scrapbook.’ I didn’t want the scrapbook to stay empty. Uncle Bill believed in me at a time when I didn’t really believe in myself.”
The Barbie star noted that his priorities always lie with Mendes, 50, and their daughters Esmeralda, 9, and Amada, 7.
“I often think about what’s going to matter to me on my deathbed, that I did and that I didn’t do. It puts things into perspective,” he said. “It always comes back to family first. I don’t think I’ll regret anything professionally, but I do think when it comes to Eva and the girls, they come first.”
Gosling added that it’s “probably not a good thing” that he thinks about his “deathbed,” but shared that it’s “helpful” for him. “Anytime I’m struggling, I just think about whether it’s going to matter to me then because, yeah, this whole thing can be distorting,” he said.
Gosling and Mendes, who have been together since 2011, have been supportive of one another through the years. After Gosling was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Ken in Barbie, Mendes gushed over his accomplishment.
Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling Sonia Recchia/Getty Images
“So proud of my man,” Mendes wrote in January while sharing several screenshots of negative press Gosling received after being cast. “So much hate when he took on this role. So many people trying to shame him for doing it. Despite all the #Notmyken ridicule and articles written about him, he created this completely original, hilarious, heartbreaking, now iconic character and took it all the way to Oscars.”
Mendes added that she’s “so beyond proud to be this Ken’s Barbie.”
While the couple have shared some glimpses into their relationship through the years, they have also kept some details about their lives out of the public eye. Mendes previously noted that the pair preferred to be private after an Instagram user accused Gosling of not publicly being there for his children.
“I don’t talk about Ryan and all the wonderful things he does as a father because I keep that part private,” she said in April 2020. “I feel it’s best that I continue to disclose what I’m comfortable with but not involve him or my kids too much. It’s not about being cagey or weird, it’s just about staying private in a public space. Does that make sense? Hope so. Because this is my honest answer.”