Ryan Gosling gave the sweetest shoutout to his longtime love, Eva Mendes, and their two daughters at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday.
As he accepted the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film, the La La Land star, 43, reflected on meeting the actress, 49, on set of The Place Beyond the Pines while costarring as love interests Romina and Luke.
While alluding to the gritty drama that brought them together in 2011, the Barbie actor gushed about how landing the role ultimately led him to meet his soul mate.
‘Most importantly, I got to meet the girl of my dreams, Eva Mendes, and have two dream children,’ Golden Globe winner said.
He continued: ‘I dreamed of one day making movies, and now, movies have made my life a dream.’
Ryan Gosling gave the sweetest shoutout to his longtime love, Eva Mendes, and their two daughters at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday night
Gosling adorably went on to say that he was ‘not prepared’ to receive the honor, which has only been bestowed to 15 other people.
‘It’s hard to imagine being at a point in my career where I’m standing up here tonight,’ Gosling said. ‘… It’s just that it’s Kirk Douglas. He’s one of the first true icons of cinema … he is completely and utterly in the class of his own, and I’m … just Ken?’
Gosling added: ‘Up until this point, I’ve only ever thought about just how much cinema had done for me. I had never really thought about what I’ve done for cinema, as far back as I can remember.’
The father-of-two went on to credit his mother, Donna, for finding his ‘weak spot’ in acting as a child and homeschooling him for a year to show him ‘how to create’ his ‘own story.’
‘That open door wasn’t an elevator that went straight to the top, but I was able to help my mom pay the rent. And by playing other people, I was learning who I was in the process,’ Gosling recalled.
While speaking about Barbier director, Greta Gerwig, Gosling marveled at how she ‘never let the importance’ of their film ‘cloud what was truly important.’
‘Even though she was making one of the biggest films of all time against all the odds in the world, she never allowed the weight of the task to steal the joy away from the moment,’ he praised.
Gosling also acknowledged his early influences in film, from actors Charlton Heston, Yul Brenner, Goldie Hawn, to directors Cecil B. DeMille, Garry Marshall, and Stanley Kubrick.
As he accepted the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film, the Golden Globe winner reflected on meeting the actress, 43, on the set of The Place Beyond the Pines (seen in 2013)
Pictured while costarring as love interests Romina and Luke in their gritty drama, which was released in 2012
Gosling’s remarks about his partner and their family come after talking about taking time away from the spotlight following the birth of their second child.
‘I wanted to spend as much time as I could with them,’ he told GQ’s Global Summer issue in March of his decision to prioritize time with his children and Mendes over work.
Gosling, a former Disney star, embarked on a relationship with Mendes, 49, after the pair played troubled lovers in critically acclaimed 2012 drama The Place Beyond The Pines.
The role served as a personal turning point for Gosling, and he admits the prospect of parenthood didn’t cross his mind until he met the Latina actress, who is seven-years his senior.
‘I wasn’t thinking about kids before I met her, but after I met Eva, I realized that I just didn’t want to have kids without her,’ he recalled.
‘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. I realized that this would be a life I would be really lucky to have.’
The couple’s first child, Esmeralda, was born in 2014, with Amada following two years later as Gosling’s career reached a mainstream peak with starring roles in musical epic La La Land and comedy crime drama The Nice Guys.
The following year he would play legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong in biopic First Man before sidelining his career to spend more time with his family – a decision that he admits changed his attitude towards work.
‘I dreamed of one day making movies, and now, movies have made my life a dream,’ he gushed (seen in 2012)
‘I treat it more like work now, and not like it’s, you know, therapy,’ he said. ‘It’s a job, and I think in a way that allows me to be better at it because there’s less interference.’
Back in 2020, she explained to her fans on Instagram that she’s ‘always had a clear boundary when it comes to’ posting about her ‘man’ and kids.
‘I’ll talk about them of course, with limits, but I won’t post pictures of our daily life,’ she made clear.
The couple have never confirmed that they are married, but she has a tattoo on her wrist that says ‘de Gosling’ and referred to him as her husband during an interview on Today Australia.
Over the summer, Gosling said it meant ‘everything’ to him to have Mendes’ support.
