Why Eva Mendes Didn’t Walk Oscars Carpet with Ryan Gosling: ‘Of Course She’s Proud and Excited’ (Exclusive)

Eva Mendes didn’t show up with longtime love Ryan Gosling at the 2024 Oscars, but a source tells PEOPLE he had her full support.

The couple who first met on the set of their film in 2012 The place behind the pines, they rarely appear together on red carpets or other Hollywood events. Gosling, 43, nominated for best supporting actor Barbieattended Sunday’s 96th Academy Awards with his family, including sister Mandi and mom Donna.

“They really seem to be surviving Hollywood as a couple because of the way they’ve handled being famous. They do their best to stay out of the spotlight,” a source told PEOPLE of Gosling and Mendes, 50.

“The most important thing for them is their little girl’s work. Everything else comes second,” said the source of the couple, who have daughters Esmeralda (9) and Amada (7). “Of course Eva is proud and excited about Ryan. She still sees it as a job though.”

“It seems like a healthy lifestyle. They’re amazing as a couple and very happy together,” the source added. “There is so much love.”

Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes relationship timeline

Eva Mendes and Ryan Golsing. Sonia Recchia/Getty Images

Another source close to Mendes adds that the actress is “not in favor” of everything red carpets entail at this point in her life. “She’s put that part of her life aside for now – the glamour, the red carpet and the photographers,” says the source. “It just doesn’t matter to her. She knows it’s part of Ryan’s job, but it’s not part of hers right now. She’s content doing her own thing with her family.”

After Sunday’s Oscars, where Gosling delivered a stunning performance of “I’m Just Ken,” Mendes quipped on Instagram that she needed Gosling to come home so they could put their kids to bed for the night.

“You took Ken all the way to the Oscars, RG. Now come home, we have to put the kids to bed. 💋”, she wrote in the description of the post, in which she is shown in a pink jacket and a black cowboy hat.

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And before the show started, Mendes showed her support for Gosling by posting an Instagram video outside his dressing room, set to “I’m just Ken.” “Always by your man,” she wrote in the description.

Every amazing photo from Ryan Gosling’s ‘I’m Only Ken’ performance at the Oscars

Ryan Gosling and Mandi Gosling March 10, 2024

John Shearer/WireImage

Although Gosling didn’t walk away with the Best Supporting Actor trophy for his role as Ken Barbie (Robert Downey Jr. won the award for Oppenheimer), his Oscar night included an unforgettable onstage performance with The Fall Guy costar Emily Blunt to exchange jokes about their Barbenheimer “rivalry,” on top of his performance of “I’m Just Ken.”

Barbie received a total of eight nominations at Sunday’s 96th Academy Awards. The film ended up winning one Academy Award for Best Original Song for Billie Eilish and Finneas’ song “What Was I Made For?”

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Source: HIS Education