When 2017's awards season rolled around and La La Land was in the spotlight, there was
a spotlight somewhere else, too.
Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes have been one of Hollywood's hottest couples since 2012,
but they are still making Hollywood wait to see them together on the red carpet.
When Gosling made his Best Actor acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, he did give the
world a glimpse into their private life with a shout out to Mendes.
"My lady was raising our daughter, pregnant with our second, and uh. trying to help her
brother fight his battle with cancer."
But that only fueled the fire of curiosity when it came to just why the stylish actress
continuously gives red carpets a miss when her beau's around.
Here are some thoughts about why Eva and Ryan are never seen gracing the same place these days.
Private places
While it can't be easy to spend so much time in such a bright spotlight, there was something
that seemed to happen when Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes hooked up in 2012.
There's plenty of appearances, photos, and even red carpet appearances that they both
did prior to the start of their relationship and even a bit at the beginning.
They even starred together in a hilarious holiday episode of "Drunk History."
They were on the red carpet together for The Place Beyond the Pines, the film they met
on and promoted together.
After that, the magazine notes they sort of retreated from public life as much as possible
— at least while on each others' arms.
Mendes hardly even acknowledges her beau on social media, and she's even stopped interviews
where she's been asked about him.
"So you just call him by the last name, you don't call him Ryan, just by his last name.
If you see him ever."
"Anyway"
When it comes to his turn in front of the media, he's said that she doesn't like him
talking about her or their relationship, either.
With the arrival of their daughters, she's even more strict about protecting their privacy.
During her pregnancies, she said she was absolutely staying out of the public eye — and off
the red carpet — because becoming a parent made her even more wary of privacy issues.
In 2014, she told The Violet Files, "Whether we like it or not, privacy is going to be
very difficult for Esmeralda...
So Ryan and I decided early on to give her as much privacy as we could.
And my pregnancy was the first opportunity to give her that."
Proper nouns
Given how private Mendes and Gosling clearly want to keep their relationship, it's really
no wonder the bright lights and extreme close-ups that come with the red carpet walk would be
something they want to avoid.
Strangely, he seems to avoid something else, too: saying her name.
Gosling's acceptance speech for his La La Land awards was a bit odd.
Rather than thanking her by name, he referred to her as "sweetheart" and "my lady."
"Sweetheart thank you.
To my daughters Amada and Esmeralda, I love you."
That's not the only time he's done that but he did mention her by name in a 2015 interview
with Hello Magazine when he said that the only quality he's looking for in a woman is
"that she's Eva Mendes."
So, we're definitely getting some strange mixed signals on that front lately.
Going solo
Ryan Gosling stirred up no small amount of gossip when he showed up to the 2017 Oscars
with a blonde woman who was clearly not Eva Mendes on his arm.
While her identity was quickly revealed to be none other than his sister, it turns out
he isn't the only one walking his red carpets alone.
In March of 2017, Mendes made her own red carpet appearance at the opening of a New
York & Company store in Miami.
Mendes has turned her attention more toward fashion and beauty instead of acting, and
as a designer for the company, she was on hand to help open the doors to the new store.
So, clearly, neither of them are completely allergic to the red carpet.
They just prefer to not walk it together.
Still supportive
Mendes might not be seen on the red carpet with her other half, but she's still occasionally
stepping out to join him at various events.
They just seem to want to keep it a personal, behind-the-scenes sort of thing instead posing
for the traditional photo line as a pair.
Gosling was walking the red carpet alone at the South by Southwest film festival in March
2017, where his film Song to Song was premiering.
While there are no photos of the pair together, she did post a picture of the Paramount on
her Instagram, confirming that she was there and perhaps took a less direct route into
the theater.
So, while she may not want to be front and center on the red carpet during his events,
she's certainly lending her support in other ways and at other times.
Even it does spark the occasional break up rumor.
Prioritizing the pitter patter
When Shape magazine talked to Mendes about everything from her workout schedule to what
she starts her mornings with, they also got a rare comment about her personal life.
At the time, Gosling was busy accepting awards for La La Land, and questions about Mendes's
role were flying.
According to what she told them, though, her biggest reason for giving the red carpet a
miss is simply that she'd choose home over Hollywood any day.
She said, "What people don't know about me is that I love being home.
Instead of hitting the red carpet, I'd rather be with our girls."
"It's heaven.
It's like walking through a field of flowers everyday."
"Well congratulations."
"I live with angels."
For now, everyone's left to speculate on just when they'll be appearing in public together
at long last.
Given the lengths to which they seem to have gone to in order to keep their relationship
on the down-low, we shouldn't hold our breath.
"Oh look at me, I'm Ryan Gosling.
I have perfect bone structure and kind eyes.
Go f*** yourself Ryan Gosling."
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