Ryan Gosling calls Eva Mendes the "girl of my dreams" in a rare comment

Awards season is in full swing, and with the 2024 Golden Globes taking place last weekend, and the 2024 Critics' Choice Awards and Emmy awards taking place this week, there is a lot to celebrate.

This is particularly true for Ryan Gosling, who has picked up Best Supporting Actor nominations across the board for his iconic role of Ken in Barbie, even tipped for an Oscar nod.

This weekend, Gosling was honoured with a very prestigious gong, taking home the Kirk Douglas Award for excellence in film at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. And as the 43-year-old took to the stage, he paid a very special tribute to his loved ones, role models and idols.

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"It's hard to imagine being at a point in my career where I'm standing up here tonight. It's hard to feel deserving of all of this, but I remind myself that the proceeds go to a wonderful cause so it doesn't really matter if I deserve it or not," Gosling announced. "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?"

He continued: "I, for one, have been so lucky. I’ve gotten to go to the moon, be a motorcycle bank robber, a getaway driver, waltz through the stars, be an elementary school teacher - albeit a crack-addicted one - become a replicant from the future, a gangster from the past, a lovelorn stunt man, and most recently, thanks to Greta, a 70-year-old crotchless doll.” 

His most talked-about words however were those about his partner, Eva Mendes, who he met on A Place Beyond The Pines in 2011, and with whom he shares daughters, Esmerelda and Amada.

"Most importantly, I got to meet the girl of my dreams, Eva Mendes, and have two dream children," Gosling told the audience.

"I dreamed of one day making movies, and now, movies have made my life a dream," he later concluded. "The way I see it, there's no way I've contributed to cinema as much as cinema has contributed to me."

Well, this is lovely.

We will continue to update this story.