Ryan Gosling Refers to Eva Mendes as His 'Hero' After 13 Years Together

Ryan Gosling couldn't be more grateful for Eva Mendes.

The Barbie actor, 43, was recently asked who he considers his "heroes" in life, and he took the opportunity to credit his longtime partner, 50, with whom he shares daughters Esmeralda, 9, and Amada, 7.

"Well, Eva, obviously," Gosling, who has been with Mendes since 2011, said in an interview. "And my uncle Bill. When I was in school, he said, ‘I’m going to put all your achievements in a scrapbook.' I didn’t want the scrapbook to stay empty. Uncle Bill believed in me at a time when I didn’t really believe in myself.”

"I often think about what’s going to matter to me on my deathbed, that I did and that I didn’t do. It puts things into perspective,” he said. “It always comes back to family first. I don’t think I’ll regret anything professionally, but I do think when it comes to Eva and the girls, they come first."

Despite keeping their romance out of the public eye, the Notebook actor and the Hitch star have continued to be each other's biggest fans. "So proud of my man,” Mendes wrote in a glowing social media post after Gosling nabbed an Oscar nomination for playing Ken in Barbie.

"So much hate when he took on this role. So many people trying to shame him for doing it. Despite all the #Notmyken ridicule and articles written about him, he created this completely original, hilarious, heartbreaking, now iconic character and took it all the way to Oscars," she stated, referring to some of the backlash Gosling received. "So beyond proud to be this Ken’s Barbie."

As OK! previously reported, the Ghost Rider alum opened up staying home with their girls while the Hollywood hunk continues his career.

"It was like a no-brainer. I'm so lucky, and I was like, if I can have this time with my children... and I still worked, I just didn't act because acting takes you on locations, it takes you away," she explained. "It was almost just like a non-verbal agreement that it was like, 'OK, he's going to work and I'm going to work, I'm just going to work here.'"

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Although Mendes has scaled back her time on screen, she hasn't held any resentment toward her partner. "I've never experienced anything like that. 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 costars as best as they can be. But unfortunately, or fortunately, there is only one Ryan!" the mother-of-two gushed.

Men's Health conducted the interview with Gosling.