Why Eva Mendes Is a 'Grateful Mama Bear' After Bringing Daughters to Olympics with Ryan Gosling

Mendes took to Instagram to share a selfie from her hotel room, where she not only thanked the establishment but the Olympics as a whole for allowing her husband, Ryan Gosling, and their daughters, Esmeralda, 9, and Amada, 8, to enjoy the games without being swarmed by paparazzi.

"Morning in Paris. Sleep marks and all. The minute I see photographers when I'm out, my guard and my wall goes up. So I wanted to share this," Mendes captioned the shot, which saw her taking in a view of the Parisian cityscape. "So grateful to @hotellutetia for the best experience. 🩶."

The Hitch star and her longtime love were seen cheering on the athletes at the women's gymnastics uneven bars final in over the weekend, where they were joined by their little girls. While they were photographed and caught on NBC's telecast enjoying the final, Mendes said she's grateful that their girls were kept out of the spotlight, taking to the comments of her post to respond to fans who weighed in on the lack of privacy celebs like she and Gosling face.

"I love @nbcolympics didn't cut away to the kids!," Mendes said in response to a fan. "And most sites blurred their faces so mama bear is happy about that. Anyway it felt so good to be there and feel unified with people."

She also replied to another commenter, adding, "they were great about not posing the kids so l'm a grateful mama bear."

Mendes also responded to a fan who expressed concern over paparazzi causing stress and anxiety.

"I'm def not complaining -- but once I feel cameras it's like I turn off and go cold. Unless I'm at work of course. But don’t worry, I melt once I'm off camera."

Both Mendes and Gosling have kept their relationship and their family life largely out of the public eye since they met on the set of 2012's The Place Beyond the Pines. And it was during the making of that film that Mendes realized just how hard he'd fallen for Eva.

"I wasn't thinking about kids before I met her, but after I met Eva, I realized that I just didn't want to have kids without her," the Fall Guy actor said in a 2023 interview with GQ. "And there were moments on The Place Beyond the Pines where we were pretending to be a family, and I didn't really want it to be pretend anymore. I realized that this would be a life I would be really lucky to have."

His family have been involved in his career, however, with Gosling sharing that they helped him decide to take the role of Ken in last year's hit, Barbie.

"It was their interest in Barbie, and their disinterest in Ken that sort of started all this," Gosling explained on The Tonight Show in April.

"It's really been a team effort. And they were on the film and they came to set when I filmed the number," he added, referring to his iconic, Oscar-nominated track, "I'm Just Ken."

"They know all the choreography better than I do" he joked. "They're backstage showing me."