Why Eva Mendes & Ryan Gosling Almost Didn't Get Married

They became a Hollywood power couple after meeting nearly 14 years ago on the set of the film The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), but have since kept their relationship fairly private. Former actress Eva Mendes, known for Hitch (2005) and Ghost Rider (2007), has been with actor Ryan Gosling, whose credits include The Notebook (2004) and Barbie (2023), since 2011.

Mendes and Gosling didn’t always believe in exchanging vows, which they have spoken about, but clearly, the two have changed their perspectives, as they tied the knot in 2022. Although we don’t know much about the pair’s marriage, it’s clear that the duo is deeply supportive of one another, both personally and professionally. What follows is a detailed timeline of the relationship between Mendes and Gosling from their first meeting to the present day.

Mendes and Gosling met on set in 2011

As noted, Mendes and Gosling first met in 2011 while filming The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), where the two were cast as love interests. The couple sparked romance rumors just a few months later when they went to Disneyland together in September 2011.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that,” Mendes shared of working with her now-husband. “The way he works, his commitment to his craft, how he wants to make everything as best as it can be — and that means making his co-stars as best as they can be.”

They seemingly confirmed the rumors when they were spotted kissing while running errands in Hollywood and subsequently spent Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve together. The following year, they made a rare red carpet appearance together, which confirmed their status as a couple. In 2014, they reunited on screen in the film Lost River.

The couple welcome their first child

On September 12, 2014, Mendes and Gosling welcomed their first child together, daughter Esmeralda Amada Gosling. Years later, Mendes opened up about her previous thoughts on becoming a mother and how they changed once she began dating Gosling.

“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,” Mendes shared in 2020. “I think I was 42 for the second one, so it worked out in the way that I had a career and then I changed my focus to my family.”

Nearly two years later, the couple welcomed their second daughter, Amada Lee Gosling, in April 2016. Although they haven’t shared photos of their children and don’t share many of each other, both Gosling and Mendes support each other on social media and in interviews.

Eva Mendes didn’t always want to get married

Even though Mendes and Gosling wed in 2022 after nearly a decade together, Mendes wasn’t always interested in the tradition. The former actress has spoken about her views on marriage in the past, explaining that she thinks the idea is “boring.”

“It’s nothing negative when I say that [I don’t believe in marriage],” Mendes explained in 2011. “I just don’t think marriage is necessary, as necessary as society makes it.And I don’t have a negative point of view on it. I just think it’s a very old tradition and if you look back to what marriage symbolizes in the first place … it has nothing to do with why we get married today… I am extremely romantic, but I think there is that little rebel inside me that is anti-establishment. It’s just one more fun thing I can rebel against.”

The same year, Mendes shared a similar thought, explaining, “It’s a very old-fashioned, archaic kind of thing…I think husband and wife, they’re very unsexy words. I actually think it’s really sexy to be with someone in their 50s or 60s and be, like ‘That’s my boyfriend.’”

Gosling seemed to have similar thoughts about marriage, which he shared in a 2011 interview.

“You know, I change my mind every day,” he noted. “That day, I believed. But men aren’t planning their weddings from the time that we’re six. We’re putting them off as long as we can, and I think we get married for different reasons.”

Considering both Mendes and Gosling made these comments before meeting or early into their relationship, it seems being together changed both of their minds, as they appeared to tie the knot in 2022.

Mendes and Gosling support each other in big and small ways

Over the years, despite their rare public appearances and the little information shared about their relationship, Mendes and Gosling have made their love for one another very clear in smaller gestures. Mendes has often supported Gosling and his many roles on her Instagram, sharing her love for his acting craft during promotion for films, including 2023’s smash hit, Barbie.

“So proud of my man. So much hate when he took on this role,” Mendes wrote in an Instagram post. “He created this completely original, hilarious, heartbreaking, now iconic character and took it all the way to the Oscars. So beyond proud to be this Ken’s Barbie.”

Gosling repaid the favor by honoring his wife at the premiere of Barbie. The actor, who wore a full pink ensemble, added the sweet detail of a chain with the initial “E” in the Barbie font.

“I know that I’m with the person I’m supposed to be with,” Gosling shared in 2015, “that she’s Eva Mendes. There’s nothing else I’m looking for.”

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This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM.