Ryan Gosling opens up about balancing career and raising daughters with Eva Mendes: ‘I’m a dad first’

Actor and Mendes share daughters Esmeralda and Amada

Ryan Gosling has opened up about the importance of putting his family and responsibilities as a father “first”.

The 41-year-old actor discussed raising his seven-year-old daughter, Esmeralda Amada, and six-year-old daughter, Amada Lee - who he shares with partner Eva Mendes - during a recent interview with heat magazine. While speaking to the outlet, Gosling said that one of the reasons he opted to be in Netflix’s newest film, The Gray Man, was so he could offer his children new opportunities.

“I’m like a dad first, and part of the reason for doing the film [The Gray Man] was this opportunity for us to go to these interesting places and be there with my kids,” he said, according to The Daily Mail. 

However, he went on to jokingly acknowledge that, while he took his children to popular spots in France, the outings weren’t necessarily their “favourite part” of the trip.

“You know it’s funny, we went to France and we went everywhere - we went to the Louvre and all these things,” the La La Land star continued. “And if I asked them now: ‘What was your favourite part about France?’ They will say: ‘The fruit plate at the hotel.’”

During the interview, Gosling also revealed how he plans to introduce his work to his children, with the actor claiming that his upcoming role as Ken in the Barbie movie “was a way to do that”.

“Not necessarily like I’m making it for them, but it’s the first time I think they [are] kind of understanding [it],” he said. “Although they can’t for the life [of] them understand why I want to play Ken because nobody plays with Ken! But that’s why we must tell his story.”

This is not the first time Gosling has shared details about the family’s trip to Paris. During an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last month, the actor recalled how Amada revealed that she wasn’t a fan of the Louvre.

“We got to work in France, so we went to the Louvre. We saw ‘Winged Victory,’ we saw ‘Venus de Milo.’ And we were standing in front of the Mona Lisa and she goes, ‘this museum?’” The Notebook star recalled as he imitated how his youngest child had had her thumb down and a frown on her face.

As for why she didn’t like the museum, Gosling said that Amada simply told him that it “was not good”.

Last month, during an interview with Byrdie, Mendes also opened up about her priorities as a mother and how she wants her children to feel like “they’re enough”.

“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,” Mendes said. “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.”