Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes Surprise with Their First Official Appearance Together in Over a Decade

Gosling surprised Mendes with an extravagant birthday celebration on Thursday’s ‘Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon‘

Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes have made their first public appearance together in over a decade.

Gosling, 45, and Mendes appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, March 5, ahead of the upcoming release of his latest film, Project Hail Mary. The actor took the opportunity to surprise Mendes with a special celebration for her 52nd birthday.

Gosling first asked the audience if they would sing to Mendes, who was backstage. A staff member went to get an unassuming Mendes, and as she made her way to the stage, he joked, “Here’s the thing, you might find me in the Hudson River tomorrow.”

When Mendes walked out to a cheering audience, Gosling went to grab her hand, and they went on the stage together. She then acknowledged the teachers and students who were in the audience, thanking them for their impact as she asked Fallon, “You’ll cut all this, right?” He grinned, replying, “No!”

Fallon told Mendes, “This is your birthday!” The television host then revealed that band directors from New Jersey’s North Bergen High School were in the audience before the school’s marching band played “Happy Birthday” for Mendes, walking out holding a flag that read, “Happy Birthday, Eva!

Gosling clapped and sang along, and Mendes thanked him with a kiss on the cheek as confetti rained down.

The moment comes over 10 years after the couple walked a red carpet together in 2013 for the New York City premiere of The Place Beyond The Pines. They first met during filming in 2011. Although they’ve been together ever since, Gosling and Mendes refrained from making public appearances as a couple until now.

The couple welcomed their first daughter, Esmeralda, in 2014, and their second daughter, Amada, in 2016.

In 2022, Mendes began publicly referring to Gosling as her husband, seemingly confirming they had tied the knot in private at an unknown time. In November of that year, she shared a photo of a “de Gosling” tattoo. In Latino culture, the use of “de” or “of” unifies the woman’s last name with her husband’s after marriage, meaning the tattoo was indicative of her marriage to Gosling.

In a subsequent interview with the Kyle and Jackie O Show, Mendes claimed she had gotten the tattoo “years ago”, adding that she likes to keep her personal life “mysterious.”

In 2023, amid the release of Barbie, in which Gosling starred as Ken, Mendes spoke about why the couple no longer posed on red carpets together. “We don’t do those things together,” Mendes wrote in response to a follower on Instagram at the time, adding that she’s “only comfortable” reposting photos that are already circulating on the internet.

She later clarified that she’s “not comfortable” exposing her “very private life” with Gosling.

“I’m still dying to do another movie with him though…♥️,” the Ghost Rider star said.

Gosling’s latest film, Project Hail Mary, hits theaters on March 20.