Skip to main contentSkip to footer

Ryan Gosling reveals how he turned LA home with Eva Mendes and two daughters into a 'crime scene'

The Barbie star shares daughters Esmeralda and Amada with The Place Beyond the Pines star Eva

Ryan Gosling attends the "Barbie" European Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on July 12, 2023 in London, England
Ahad Sanwari
Ahad Sanwari - New York
Senior WriterNew York
Share this:

Ryan Gosling's performance as Ken in Greta Gerwig's Barbie may have been the subject of immense acclaim, but the one thing that didn't love him after the movie was his home with Eva Mendes.

The Canadian actor, 43, sat down with Variety for a new interview where he tried to guess lines from his most famous movies, and was presented with one from Ken, which read: "When I found out the patriarchy wasn't about horses, I lost interest."

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, Ryan spoke of his nerves about approaching the role. “It’s the hardest role I’ve ever had to play,” he admitted. “It was like a high-wire act in tiny shorts and no shirt – with no net."

 “I was like, ‘I can’t mess this up. I can’t be the guy that messed up the Barbie movie' ... I Ken'd as hard as I could." 

Bringing his work home proved somewhat challenging, however.

"I had to get new sheets because of all the fake tanner," he joked. "Just looked like a crime scene in my house. Just terrifying handprints on the wall. If you didn't know, you'd just think I was a very disturbed…person that was living there."

Does Ryan Gosling Know Lines From His Most Famous Movies?

Ryan and Eva, 49, are the proud parents of daughters Esmeralda, nine, and Amada, seven, both of whom are pretty big fans of Barbie the Mattel doll (and its encompassing world).

RELATED: Eva Mendes reacts to Ryan Gosling's Oscar nomination for Barbie after 'so much hate'

In a previous interview with E! News, he revealed that the fact that the girls loved Barbie so much was a big reason why he took the comedic role on in the first place.

Barbie
Ryan Gosling© Alamy Stock Photo
Ryan revealed that the fake tanner he used for Ken proved to be disastrous for his sheets at home

"I knew that they loved it because they kept saying at first, 'Hey, can we go to Target?'" he told the outlet. "And we go to Target, and then they'd slowly go by the Barbie aisle. And my wife and I sort of realized, 'OK, I think it's time to let them have Barbies.' And no interest in Ken, which was pretty interesting, too."

MORE: Where to watch the biggest award winners' movies and TV shows of 2024

While the Drive star shared that Esmeralda and Amada had been to the set and seen him perform a big musical number, they hadn't actually seen the finished product yet, which ended 2023 as the highest grossing movie of the year and earned over $1.4 billion at the box office.

Barbie (2023) directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and  Ryan Gosling as Ken. Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence.© Alamy Stock Photo
The actor is now Oscar nominated for his performance in the fantasy comedy

"I don't know if you should watch your father as Ken," he shared at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. "I don't know what age is a good age to see your father do that. It gets pretty crazy."

SEE: Ryan Gosling's incredibly rare tribute to his 'sweetheart' Eva Mendes in throwback Golden Globes speech leaves TikTok swooning

Speaking with Entertainment Tonight last year, he did add, though, that despite not having seen the film, his daughters were his test audience for the full Kenergy, and he knew that if they weren't laughing, it was time to step up.

Eva Mendes, Ryan Gosling at 'The Place Beyond the Pines' film premiere, New York, America - 28 Mar 2013© Starpix/REX/Shutterstock
Ryan and Eva share daughters Esmeralda and Amada

Still, he admitted back in July at the movie's world premiere: "Well, it was, I think, weird enough for them that I played Ken anyway. I might like, you know, just hold off on them seeing the full Ken energy."

Get the lowdown on the biggest, hottest celebrity news, features, and profiles coming out of the U.S. Sign up to our HELLO! Hollywood newsletter and get them delivered straight to your inbox. 

More Homes

See more