Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling have been together since 2011 and reportedly married since 2016. They have two daughters together, Esmeralda Amada and Amada Lee. They’ve always been pretty private about their relationship and family life. However, Eva has given Ryan shoutouts over the last couple of years, especially on the subject of Barbie. As you all know by now, Ryan was one of only two Barbie actors to be nominated for an Academy Award. He was also a part of the team nominated for Best Song. I would really love to see him get up there and sing “I’m Just Ken,” because I think that would be a delight. If Ryan doesn’t want to do a lot of the actual singing, make it a singalong! Take that mic out into the audience and get Cillian Murphy or Christopher Nolan to singalong. That how you get some positive Oscar hashtags trending. Anyway, Eva, who has been hella proud of her husband’s role, took to Instagram to speak out, doing a satisfying little “I told you so” to the haters.
“So proud of my man,” Mendes wrote Wednesday on Instagram. “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 the Oscars.”
Mendes even shared parts of an article partially titled, “Ryan Gosling Is Giving Major Cringe as Ken in ‘Barbie,’” which likened him to “one of those creepy, older West Hollywood men who still think they’re in their 20s.”
While presumably tongue in cheek, it was no anomaly. Some saw “Barbie” as a cash-grab of Mattel’s famous doll line or an earnest failure in tackling corporate influence. Others deemed it a zippy clarion call for feminism that turned its star and producer Margot Robbie and Gerwig into role models for women.
“So beyond proud to be this Ken’s Barbie,” wrote Mendes in her post.
Awww, this is so sweet! It’s really nice that Eva is so supportive of Ryan. I bet she’s really proud of him for not only his performance but for taking a role that was integral in teaching younger generations, like their daughters’, about the patriarchy and what a Barbie World run by women looks like. Bring on an all-female Supreme Court! Ryan’s unprecedented statement of support for Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig after they were snubbed was pretty freaking great, too
I wonder how much all of the negative publicity while the movie was filming affected Ryan at home behind-the-scenes. I remember when those first images of Ryan and Margot dressed in the rollerblading outfits leaked. At the time, members of production were reportedly upset about them getting out, but a lot of the Internet was intrigued and excited by them, myself included. Honestly, the joke was on all of the critics out there because I agree with Eva: Gosling was an awesome and iconic Ken.
Photos credit: Backgrid, Dave Allocca/Startraksphoto.com, Getty and via Instagram. Frontpage photo is from this post