Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes made a rare public outing on Wednesday, taking their daughter Amada to Disneyland to celebrate her ninth birthday, at the very theme park where they were first spotted together as a couple more than a decade ago.
Gosling, 45, was every inch the devoted dad as he held Amada’s hand while strolling through the park in Anaheim, California, with Mendes, 52, walking closely behind them.
Their eldest daughter Esmeralda, 11, did not appear to be part of the trip.
The outing carries a certain symmetry.
Gosling and Mendes first met on the set of their 2012 thriller The Place beyond the Pines, with filming beginning in August 2011.
Just a month later, the pair were spotted at Disneyland together, prompting romance rumours.
An onlooker described them at the time as looking “like a dating couple, they always walked very closely, holding hands and their arms touching side by side,” according to PEOPLE.
Wednesday’s visit, then, brought things full circle.
The intensely private couple have kept their family life largely out of the spotlight over the years, with rumours of a marriage occasionally surfacing, particularly after Mendes referred to Gosling as her “husband” in 2022.
They have never publicly confirmed or denied whether they are married.
Gosling has previously spoken about how meeting Mendes changed his outlook on family entirely.
“I wasn’t thinking about kids before I met her, but after I met Eva, I realised that I just didn’t want to have kids without her,” he told GQ in 2023.
He also said that before they met, “I was looking for her, you know? It all makes sense now.”
The birthday outing comes as Gosling continues to promote Project Hail Mary, his latest film, for which he has said his daughters serve as his most trusted critics.
“My kids have seen multiple cuts. They give me multiple notes. They’re basically the only critics I care about and they are very critical and very honest,” he told Access in February.