How ‘falling in love’ with Ryan Gosling made Eva Mendes want kids

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling have stayed quiet about their relationship for years, but now the actress has revealed why she didn’t want kids.

Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes have stayed largely out of the public spotlight. Picture: Splash News

Parenthood wasn’t a chapter actress Eva Mendes initially envisioned in her life story.

As the actress and now-mother of two daughters, Esmeralda, 4, and Amada, 2, recently told Women’s Health, crossing paths with longtime partner, actor Ryan Gosling, changed her perspective.

“Ryan Gosling happened,” Mendes said. “I mean, falling in love with him. Then it made sense for me to have … not kids, but his kids. It was very specific to him.”

The couple have two daughters together. Picture: Getty Images

Though becoming a mum was the “furthest thing” from Mendes’ mind, after meeting Gosling, 38, on the set of The Place Beyond the Pines in 2011, fate had a change of plans, reports the New York Post.

Mendes said the couple are just getting out of “survival mode”, lauding her “amazing support group” for helping out with the couple’s children.

The couple met on the 2011 film, The Place Beyond the Pines. Picture: Roadshow

“Ryan’s [mother], my [mother], Ryan’s and my sisters. It’s a village that helped us,” Mendes shared. “My heart goes out to women who do this alone. I basically come from a single-parent household; although I love my dad, my mum mostly raised four of us on her own.”

And while Hollywood isn’t the average neighbourhood, Mendes works hard to give her girls a somewhat “normal” upbringing.

Eva Mendes pictured in Sydney. Picture: Supplied

“What I try to emphasise 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 Mum. And I’m more than happy to just be Mum,” she explained.

The couple are so private, the only photos of them together are usually paparazzi snaps. Picture: Splash News

In addition to acting, Mendes is also involved in the fashion industry through a partnership with New York & Company, and created her own line: Eva by Eva Mendes.

— with the New York Post