How Love Changed Ryan

He Danced to an Oscar Nomination in La La Land, but These Days the Star Most Cherishes His Role as a Family Man With Eva Mendes and Their Kids.

- Mia McNiece

From The Notebook to Crazy, Stupid, Love to his Oscar-nominated turn in La La Land, Ryan Gosling has delivered some of the most heart-melting moments in movies. But the 36-year-old star rarely utters a word about his private life—so he held the audience rapt at the Golden Globes when he delivered the acceptance-speech equivalent of that Notebook embrace in the rain, professing his love for his girlfriend of five years, Eva Mendes. “While I was singing and dancing and playing piano and having one of the best experiences I’ve ever had on a film, my lady was raising our daughter, pregnant with our second and trying to help her brother fight his battle with cancer,” he said. “Sweetheart, thank you.”

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