Ryan Gosling reveals the best parts about being a dad for Father’s Day

Ryan Gosling is happy to gush about being a father.

The 43-year-old actor reflected on what life has been like raising his two girls – Esmeralda, nine, and Amada, eight – with partner of 13 years, Eva Mendes, ahead of Father’s Day.

Gosling recently told WSJ Magazine that despite a rewarding acting career, including playing Ken in last year’s box office smash Barbie, his kids will always come first.

“I’m trying to just figure out who they are and be there for them in the way that I can,” he said. “They’re such clear and distinct personalities that it’s sort of becoming obvious.”

Gosling has been purposeful about the projects he takes on, he says, so he can fulfill basic dad duties like picking Esmeralda and Amada up at school. What’s more, the Fall Guy star strategically picks characters that won’t put him in a poor mindset.

He explained: “I don’t really take roles that are going to put me in some kind of dark place. This moment is what I feel like trying to read the room at home and feel like what is going to be best for all of us.

“The decisions I make, I make them with Eva and we make them with our family in mind first.”

At work, he may be called “Ryan” or “Gosling,” but at home, he’s “Daddy” or “Papi.” “It kills me every time. There’s just nothing, nothing better than that,” he said.

Gosling and Mendes do their best to keep their family, and relationship, out of the public eye. The 50-year-old actress rarely posts pictures of Esmeralda and Amada on her Instagram page which has 6.5 million followers.

The pair met on the set of The Place Beyond the Pines in 2011 and started dating immediately. Neither Gosling nor Mendes has ever revealed if they’re married but fans believe they secretly tied the knot in 2016.

In 2022, Mendes showed off a fresh tattoo on her wrist that read, “de Gosling,” prompting speculation the pair had gotten married. That same year, Mendes referred to Gosling as her “husband” during an interview on Channel Nine Today.

According to Gosling being with Mendes made him want to become a father. “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 told GQ last month.