Eva Mendes reveals relationship with Ryan Gosling began before they met on film set

The pair have been together since 2011

Eva Mendes has opened up about her relationship with longtime partner Ryan Gosling, with the actor revealing that the pair actually didn’t meet on the set of their film, The Place Beyond the Pines.

On Instagram on Thursday, Mendes shared a clip from the 2012 film, in which her character and Gosling’s character could be seen walking towards each other. In the movie, the Canadian actor played Luke, a motorcyclist who robs banks in order to financially provide for his girlfriend Romina, played by Mendes, and their newborn.

As the actress praised the scene in the caption of her post, she also shared a new detail about her and Gosling’s relationship.

“Magic is Real,” she wrote. “We did not meet on set. The magic started way before but here’s a little magic captured on camera. Gracias to the increíble director Derek Cianfrance.”

In the comments of the post, fans not only praised the couple, but also asked when they really met.

“You could feel the chemistry through the screen,” one fan wrote, while another added: “How did you meet?” along with a red heart eye emoji.

A third wrote: “The way they look at each other always speaks volumes. The look of love, sorrow, longing, all at once.”

Mendes’ clarification about the start of her relationship came two days after she celebrated the 10th anniversary of The Place Beyond the Pines in a separate Instagram post.

The caption of the post, which featured photos of the pair on set, read: “Luke & Romina…Mi socia @scondito just sent me this telling me it’s been 10 years since this film came out. Feels like lifetimes ago.”

Gosling has spoken previously about working with Mendes and the on-screen chemistry that they shared.

“I think that she...I would like to say it’s our chemistry, but I think the reality is that it’s Derek’s process,” he told Elle in 2013, referring to the film’s creator. “I think that chemistry is evident in other relationships in the movie, as well, and the kind of environment that he puts you in evokes a kind of connection.”

Although they kept their relationship private, Mendes and Gosling were first romantically linked in 2011, after they were spotted on multiple outings together. In 2014, they starred alongside one another in their second movie, Lost River.

That same year, Gosling and Mendes welcomed their first child, Esmeralda Amada, who is now eight, and in 2016, they had their second daughter, Amada Lee.

Although the couple has been together more than a decade, they have not publicly confirmed whether they are married. However, Mendes previously hinted that she and Gosling had tied the knot during a November 2022 interview about living in Australia, during which she referred to Gosling as her “husband”.

“I’m loving it here,” she told Today Australia at the time. “My husband Ryan is here, the ordinary fellow that you were talking about. Our children are here. We’re having the best time.”

While Mendes is notoriously private about her life with the La La Land star, she has previously opened up about their family, and how important it is for their children to feel loved.

“Hopefully Ryan and I are doing the work by just loving them, completely loving them, and doing most of that work for them so that they grow up feeling like they’re enough,” she told Byrdie in July 2022. “That’s the one thing that’s really important to me. Because once they feel like they’re enough, no matter what they do, no matter what they end up doing, that will feed into every area of your life.”