Are Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes married? Are they not? Here’s what we know for sure: These Hollywood A-listers keep their relationship and relationship status private.
Together since 2011, the actors share two daughters, Amada Lee, 7, and Esmeralda Amada, 8.
Despite their reserved nature, the couple still makes sure to support each other. Gosling, 42, wore a sweet necklace with Mendes’ first initial to a “Barbie” movie premiere, and Mendes, 49, has posted frequently about Gosling’s role as Ken on Instagram, including use of the hashtag #ThatsMyKen. Gosling later told Access Hollywood it means “everything” to have her support.
Here’s what we know about the costars-turned-couple.
Really, though: Are Gosling and Mendes married? Here’s what they’ve said
Long story short, they have never confirmed their relationship status — but they have left hints.
During a 2022 interview with Australian podcast “The Kyle and Jackie O Show,” Mendes evaded confirming the pair’s marital status. “Who says we weren’t already?” she said. “I like to keep it all mysterious. I’m a very mysterious woman.”
A week later, during a June 22 appearance on Australia’s Today show on Channel 9, Mendes calls Gosling her “husband.”
“Everyone is so welcoming here, and my husband, Ryan, is here, and we are having the best time,” she said at the time.
Later that year, in November, Mendes posted a photo of a tattoo that also sent rumors flying. The delicate tattoo reads “de Gosling.” Directly translated from Spanish, the phrase means “of Gosling.” Regardless of whether or not the tattoo signals a secret marriage, it clearly reflects Mendes and Gosling’s long-term commitment to each other.
During the “Barbie” press tour, Gosling and Mendes continued to court marriage rumors.
On July 21, 2023, Mendes posted a clip of one of Gosling’s interviews on her Instagram. The version of the video refers to her as Gosling’s wife in the closed captioning.
They met on a movie set in 2011 — or did they?
Gosling and Mendes co-starred in “The Place Beyond the Pines” (2012), playing star-crossed couple Luke and Romina.
While they began dating in 2011, Mendes revealed in an Instagram on April 6, 2023 that the pair had actually met before “The Place Beyond The Pines.”
She posted a video of her and Gosling in their roles to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the movie. “We did not meet on set,” she wrote in the caption. “The magic started way before but here’s a little magic captured on camera.”
When asked about his on-screen connection with Mendes in an interview with Elle in 2013, Gosling said he would “like to say” it came down to their real life “chemistry,” but ultimately attributed it to director Derek Cianfrance.
Mendes and Gosling were photographed together off set in 2011, culminating with a New Year’s Eve kiss in 2012.
Mendes looked back at their 2012 red carpet debut: ‘Trying to be very professional’
In September 2012, Mendes and Gosling appeared together at the TIFF Awards to promote “The Place Beyond The Pines.” At the time, the couple had not yet confirmed whether they were dating, though rumors abounded.
Mendes later revealed to Kelly Clarkson in a 2019 interview on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” that she struggled to remain professional during the red carpet appearance.
“That’s literally me going, ‘I’m not in love with him. I’m not in love with him. What?’ We were just trying to be very professional,” Mendes said.
After starring in 2 movies with him, Mendes calls Gosling ‘the greatest actor she’s worked with’
Mendes and Gosling starred together again in 2014 film “The Lost River,” which was written and directed by Gosling and partially based on his life.
Gosling praised Mendes’ role in executing the film.
“They know what is at stake for you personally, and all the work that’s gone into getting there,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
“She hates credit and she’ll even be mad that I’m giving her that credit,” Gosling added. “But she was very helpful in so many ways.”
In 2023, Mendes raved about her partner’s acting skills. “To say he’s the greatest actor I’ve ever worked with is an understatement,” she wrote in the caption of a post alongside a praise about Gosling from Gerwig.
What they’ve said about their daughters, born in 2012 and 2014
The couple’s firstborn daughter, Esmeralda Amada Gosling, arrived in September 2014.
They welcomed their second child, daughter Amada Lee Gosling, in April 2016. Amada was named after Mendes’ grandmother.
Both Gosling and Mendes have opened up about their journey to parenthood.
Mendes spoke in 2020 about balancing her career and her family on Australian radio show Fitzy and Wippa.
“I was lucky enough to work my bum off for 20 years,” she said in the interview. “I never wanted babies before until I fell in love with Ryan, and it kind of worked out to where I was 40 and having my first baby. I think I was 42 for the second one, so it worked out in that way that I had a career and then I change my focus to my family.”
She told TODAY in 2022 parenting is an act of creativity: “I’m an actress, I’ve designed clothes, I’ve done a number of different things. But this is the most creative thing, is to create life with them.”
For Gosling, kids weren’t on his To Do list, until he met Mendes.
“After I met Eva, I realized that I just didn’t want to have kids without her,” Gosling told GQ in 2023. “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.”
Mendes said she and Gosling are ‘bulldozing parents’
Mendes opened up to Kelly Clarkson about the challenges of parenting in a 2019 appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
“Nobody told me it was gonna really be a job, and a job that I needed an incredible amount of skill for, in different areas: a chauffeur, a cook, a personal assistant to an abusive boss,” she joked.
“We’re very controlling,” she continued. “I think what the term is—we’re always laughing at these terms—I think we would be ‘bulldozing parents.’ Well, what else are we supposed to do? We have to be on top of them every second.”
Want more of a glimpse into their home life? In February 2020, Mendes praised Gosling’s skills in the kitchen.
“Ryan is an amazing chef AND baker,” she said in an Instagram comment. “For reals. Incredible. No joke. I’m not sure that what I do is cooking. Its more like steaming veggies and juicing and making rice. He really cooks. I survive.”
Gosling expressed gratitude to Mendes in 2017 awards show speech
Gosling, who won the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical in 2017, praised his wife’s sacrifices in the speech and dedicated the award to Mendes’ late brother, Juan Carlos Mendes.
“There’s just no time to thank everyone. I would just like to try and thank one person properly,” he said. “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. If she hadn’t taken all that on so I that could have this experience, there would surely be someone else up here other than me today.”
He then addressed Mendes directly.
“So sweetheart, thank you, to my daughters, Amada and Esmeralda, I love you. And if I may, I’d like to dedicate this to the memory of her brother, Juan Carlos Mendes.”
Juan Carlos Mendes passed away of throat cancer in 2016, just two weeks before Gosling and Mendes welcomed second daughter Amada.
Gosling calls Mendes ‘the girl of my dreams’
While accepting the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Jan. 13, Gosling reflected on how his movie career has also led to major achievements in his personal life.
“Most importantly, I got to meet the girl of my dreams, Eva Mendes, and have two dream children,” he said in his speech.
“I dreamed of one day making movies, and now, movies have made my life a dream,” the two-time Oscar nominee added.
