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Eva Mendes, Ryan Gosling's daughters' alternate living situation and why they move so often

The Barbie actor and his partner are notoriously private about their daughters


Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling at the "The Place Beyond The Pines" premiere
Beatriz Colon
Beatriz Colon - New York
Online News WriterNew York
On 12 June 2023
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Since getting together in 2011 after meeting on the set of The Place Beyond the Pines, Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling have largely retreated from public life, at least as a couple.

While the two have made separate public appearances since then, they have previously expressed that they don't plan to make any together, and have always strived to keep their personal life, even whether they are married or not, out of the public eye.

The same rule applies to their daughters Esmeralda Amada, eight, and Amada Lee, seven, who they have decided to not share with the public.

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Eva and Ryan live with their daughters in a quiet town in Southern California, away from the hubbub of star-studded Los Angeles.

In a May interview with GQ ahead of the release of Barbie, the actor gave rare insight into what their household dynamics are, revealing that they employ no nannies outside of their own relatives, and that they spend most of their time at home.

MORE: Eva Mendes admits she's 'a beast' and shaves her face almost daily

However, while Esmeralda and Amada's lives are typically quiet and private, Eva and Ryan make an exception when Ryan has a movie to film on location.

Photo shared by Eva Mendes on Instagram April 2023 of her sitting in a truck outside of her California home© Instagram
In April, Eva shared a rare glimpse of her and Ryan's home

Since his breakout role in 2004's The Notebook opposite Rachel McAdams, Ryan worked on several movies a year until 2014, the year he welcomed his first daughter, and he had an Oscar-nominated role in La La Land the same year. But after 2018, he didn't work on anything for four years, until 2022's The Gray Man.

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"I wanted to spend as much time as I could with them," he explained to GQ, and now that he is deep into his acting comeback, he's trying his best to still keep it that way.

Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes in The Place Beyond The Pines © Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock
The couple played on-screen love interests on The Place Beyond the Pines

Now he has found a better work-life balance and intends to be both a present dad and a working actor, and it's exactly why he has chosen to work on only one movie a year, because each time he's filming on location, it means a move away from their California home for the rest of the family.

While working on The Gray Man, which filmed in Los Angeles, Paris, and Prague, Eva, Esmeralda, and Amada all tagged along. 

Eva Mendes, Ryan Gosling at 'The Place Beyond the Pines' film premiere, New York, America - 28 Mar 2013© Dave Allocca/Starpix/REX/Shutterstock
The two at the premiere of their 2012 film

Though the couple prefer their quiet California life, Ryan previously admitted that he felt more encouraged to take his role in the Netflix action movie because of the opportunity it would give him to expose his girls to different countries and cultures.

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling at the "The Place Beyond The Pines" premiere© Getty Images
Eva and Ryan haven't made red carpet appearances together after 2012

During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon back in October of 2022, he told the late night host: "I'm like a dad first, and part of the reason for doing the film was this opportunity for us to go to these interesting places and be there with my kids."

Barbie, which will premiere in theaters July 21, was filmed both in California and Hertfordshire, so the family spent some time living in London last year.

Eva Mendes shows off her tattoo honoring partner Ryan Gosling© Instagram
Eva has Ryan's last name tattooed on her wrist

Ryan also recently worked on The Fall Guy, which temporarily relocated his family to Sydney. With its plot remains under wraps, the film — presumably based on a popular 1980s TV series starring Lee Majors about a stuntman-turned-bounty-hunter — also stars Hannah Waddingham, Emily Blunt, Stephani Hsu, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Filming wrapped in March 2023, and a premiere is slated for spring 2024.

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