Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes are one of the most private couples in Hollywood. Despite being together since 2011 and sharing two daughters, we weren’t even sure if they were married until November 2022! Still, the pair have kept their family together and away from the press for 12 years, which makes them one of the most consistent, stable couples in the business.
In 2017, Gosling broke their usual protocol when he gushed over Mendes in his acceptance speech after winning a Golden Globe for his performance in La La Land. “I just would like to try and thank one person properly and say that, while I was singing and dancing and playing piano and having one of the best experiences I’ve ever had on a film, my lady was raising our daughter, pregnant with our second, and trying to help her brother fight his battle with cancer,” he said. “If she hadn’t taken all that on so I could have this experience, it would surely be someone else up here other than me. So sweetheart, thank you.”
Here’s everything we know about Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes’s enviable relationship, and their complete relationship timeline.
September 2011: The pair hit it off while filming The Place Beyond the Pines, which premiered in 2012. Gosling and Mendes were then spotted on a date at Disneyland just after brief dalliances with Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis, respectively. Remarkably, those two would end up entering their own long-term relationship that same year; Wilde and Sudeikis, who split in November 2020, also share two children.
September 2014: Gosling and Mendes welcome their first child, a daughter named Esmeralda Amada.
April 2016: They welcome a second daughter, Amada Lee. Later that year Gosling tells GQ, “Your whole life you hear what it’s like to have kids, and all the clichés are true. I felt I knew that everything would be different, but until you experience that, there’s no way to really know what people mean. I only know what it’s like to have my kids. And in my situation, Eva’s the dream mother, and they’re dream babies, and it’s like a dream that I’m having right now. I’m dreaming it all.”
January 2017: Accepting a Golden Globe for La La Land, Gosling reflects on Mendes’s sacrifices.
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September 2017: During a rare night out, the couple is photographed leaving the SNL after-party at Tao in New York together.
April 2019: Mendes explains that she’s keeping their kids pretty much in the dark about Hollywood. “The whole fame component is super scary when you try to raise your kids,” she told Women’s Health. “What I try to emphasize is that I don’t let them see me put attention to how I dress. They’ve never seen me get ready for something; they’ve never seen me at work. Which is fine, for whoever wants to do it that way, but the way I keep it normal is by not letting them see me in these situations. I’m just Mom. And I’m more than happy to just be Mom.”
March 2020: Mendes reveals why she doesn’t share personal photos with her partner online. “As far as Ryan, I’ll only post flashbacks of things that are already ‘out there’ (like pics from movies we did or stuff like that),” she explained to a fan on Instagram. “My man and kids are private. That’s important to me so thanks for getting that. Have a beautiful day. Sending so much love!”
October 2021: Gosling opens up about parenting with Mendes during the pandemic. “Our kids are young, so it was a tough time for them to be separated from other kids and not being able to see family and whatnot. So, we did our best to entertain them,” Gosling said in an interview with GQ. “I think Eva and I did more acting in quarantine than we have in our whole careers.”
May 2022: Mendes shares how she and Gosling split up household responsibilities in an interview with People, “Ryan’s the cook. He’s an incredible cook,” she said. “I think that there’s a really nice balance to ‘You cook, I clean.’ And it just works for us.”
June 2022: During an appearance on The Talk, Mendes says she got to keep the Calvin Klein–inspired “Ken” underwear from her husband's promotional Barbie photo shoot. “I saw the photo and the 14-year-old in me was like, ‘Ahhhhh,’” Mendes said. “It’s a funny photo and he’s trying to be funny, so it worked on all levels. But when I saw it, he sent it to me from work, and I said, ‘Can I please have that underwear? Please. I never ask for anything.’”
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July 2022: Ryan Gosling says his wife was very supportive of his “Kenergy” while filming the highly anticipated Barbie movie. “She started a hashtag, #ThatsMyKen, which meant a lot to me,” he said during BBC’s The One Show, per PopSugar UK. That same month, Gosling shared a rare anecdote about his youngest daughter on The Tonight Show, which you can watch here:
November 2022: The secret is out: Mendes and Gosling are married—and likely have been for many years. Early in the month, Mendes sparked fan speculation by posting an image of her “de Gosling” wrist tattoo on Instagram. On November 18 she confirmed their marital status by referring to Gosling as her husband during an interview with Channel Nine's Today, per Elle.
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When asked about the recent wedding rumors on Australia’s Kyle and Jackie O Show podcast, Mendes replied, “But who says we weren’t already? I like to keep it all mysterious. I’m a very mysterious woman.” Regarding the tattoo, Mendes says she got it “years ago.”
May 2023: In GQ’s May cover story, Gosling gave a rare glimpse into his family life with Eva, Esmeralda, and Amada, and explained how he prepared for fatherhood (or rather, didn’t).
The actor said that he hadn’t imagined himself as a father until “Eva said she was pregnant.” He added, “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.”
As for parenting, Gosling says that he and Mendes make a perfect pair. “I just lean on Eva,” he said when asked about parenting advice. “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 also spoke romantically about life before and after Eva. “I was looking for her, you know?” When asked if he was “conscious” of his search, he replied, “No. But it all makes sense now.”
July 5, 2023: After Barbie director Greta Gerwig sings Gosling’s praise in an interview with Rolling Stone, Mendes shares Gerwig’s quote in an Instagram post, along with a message of her own.
Speaking of Gosling’s on-screen talent as Ken, Gerwig said, “It’s some combination of Marlon Brando meets Gene Wilder meets John Barrymore meets John Travolta.”
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In the caption of her Instagram, Mendes added, “One of my favorite things the insanely talented & beautiful GRETA GERWIG says in @rollingstone about Mi Hombre, Mi Vida, Mi Amor …RG💗,” she shared.
July 7, 2023: Eva Mendes spent the entirety of the Barbie press tour gassing up her husband on social media. “To say he’s the greatest actor I’ve ever worked with is an understatement,” she wrote on July 7. Asked by Access Hollywood what her support means to him, Gosling replied, “It means everything.”
July 9, 2023: While his costar Margot Robbie chose the Barbie premiere to dress up like an actual Barbie doll from 1961, Ryan Gosling skipped the Ken cosplay and instead paid subtle tribute to Eva Mendes. The actor hit the Barbie world-premiere red carpet in Los Angeles on July 9 wearing a pink suit by Gucci as well as a necklace with an “E” pendant in the Barbie font, presumably for Eva. Aww.
December 20, 2023: Mendes shares Gosling’s holiday recording of “I’m Just Ken,” thanking producer Mark Ronson for “getting my man to make more music.” Revealing that her husband’s rock band Dead Man’s Bones, is her favorite, she adds, “when I first heard Ryan sing, MY HEART EXPLODED.”
While this is objectively adorable, one commenter jokingly took issue with Mendes’s referring to Gosling as “my man,” reminding her that “we all love him.” Of course, Mendes had the perfect response, writing, “You’re right! Our Man. It’ll never happen again. Merry Christmas! Lots of love !!”
He's just Kristmas Ken.
January 13, 2024: While accepting the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Gosling thanks Mendes in the most touching way. “Most importantly, I got to meet the girl of my dreams, Eva Mendes, and have two dream children,” he said, per People. “I dreamed of one day making movies, and now, movies have made my life a dream.”
January 24, 2024: Petty in the best way. A day after the Oscar announcements, which included a nod for Gosling as Ken in Barbie, Mendes posted screenshots of a snarky article from two years earlier doubting her husband's ability to play the iconic doll.
“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…So beyond proud to be this Ken’s Barbie 💕,” she wrote.
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March 10, 2024: Mendes accompanies Gosling to the Oscars and posts a short video of herself in the doorway of his dressing room. “Always by my man,” she wrote on Instagram.
However, she did not walk the red carpet with Gosling—that was his sister, Mandi.
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Following her man’s absolutely epic performance of “I’m Just Ken,” Mendes congratulates him and indicates they’re headed home. Oh, and ignore all the comments asking why she didn’t “go with him” to the Oscars; she’s literally posting from his dressing room, in his costume. He probably took this picture.
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“Now come home, we need to put the kids to bed.”
March 11, 2024: A source tells People exclusively that the private family is staying private, and is even moving out of Hollywood proper. “They left LA to live a bit further north, away from Hollywood. They didn’t want [their two daughters] to grow up around other celebrity kids.… They care so much about their marriage and just want their girls to live a happy life,” the source says. There’s the M-word again!
This post will be updated.
