Ryan Gosling knows the powerful emotions that come with parenthood.
The Academy Award-nominated actor and his partner, actress Eva Mendes, have two daughters ― Esmeralda and Amada. Since becoming a father in 2014, he’s opened up now and then about the transformative experience.
In honor of his birthday, here are 11 quotes about parenthood from Gosling.
On Becoming A Parent
“Your whole life, you hear what it’s like to have kids, and all the clichés are true. I felt I knew that everything would be different, but until you experience that, there’s no way to really know what people mean.”
On Living In A House Full Of Girls
“It’s heaven. It’s like walking through a field of flowers every day. I live with angels.”
On How Parenthood Changes Things
“There’s a kind of chaos in it that I love. Maybe in my life I sort of put myself in situations that were chaotic, outside of my life. And now I have it at home, and I don’t have to go looking for it.”
On His Daughter’s Musical Taste
“She’s obsessed with the Hanson Christmas album! No disrespect to Hanson, they’re very talented kids, but I think I’ve heard that record enough. I’m sure it will be on a loop this Christmas as well.”
On Meeting His Children
“When you meet your kids you realise that they deserve great parents. And then you have your marching orders and you have to try and become the person that they deserve.”
On His Luck As A Parent
“I only know what it’s like to have my kids. And in my situation, Eva’s the dream mother, and they’re dream babies, and it’s like a dream that I’m having right now. I’m dreaming it all. So I feel so lucky.”
On New Dad Gifts
“When my little girl was born, [Don Rickles] sent me a gift certificate for Toys ‘R’ Us ... It said, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll get another job. Kids are expensive.’”
On Raising Independent Kids
“I mean, it’s a relief when you realise that they are who they are. You’re nervous that they’ll get all the qualities of yourself that you have been struggling with, and then you realise that they’re not you. And it’s a relief. Then ― and again, I don’t mean to talk like I’m anything but new to this ― as I start to get to know who they are, again you have your marching orders, which is to try to provide them with the things that they need to fulfill that.”
On The Fun Of Fatherhood
“It sounds so clichéd, but I never knew that life could be this fun and this great.”
On Taking His Family To Work
“I know I couldn’t be away this long. They come to [the set], too. So it’s nice to share that. Especially with my oldest. All these sets have been made, and there’s incredible craftsmen involved, all of the seamstresses making all these costumes, and the love and attention that’s going into every detail ― I really wanted her to see that. ... She was on set the other day and I was doing a fight scene with Harrison [Ford] and she just yelled out in the middle of the take, ‘You’re winning!’ Well, first she said, ‘You’re doing great,’ and then Harrison stopped in the middle of the take and said, ‘What about me?’”
On His Journey To Parenthood
“It’s not something I really thought about, or even thought I wanted. I didn’t have a romanticised idea of it. ... It came about in a very surprising and kind of organic way. There was nothing kind of premeditated about it, you know. It just suddenly was: My life had changed. And thank God it did.”
