Ryan Gosling gushed over his longtime partner Eva Mendes while accepting an award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival last night.
Ryan received the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film, an honor given “to a lifelong contributor to cinema through their work in front of the camera, behind, or both.”
“Most importantly, I got to meet the girl of my dreams, Eva Mendes, and have two dream children,” he said, referring to his and Eva’s daughters, Esmeralda Amada, 9, and Amada Lee, 7.
“I dreamed of one day making movies, and now, movies have made my life a dream,” the actor continued.
“That open door wasn’t an elevator that went straight to the top, but I was able to help my mom pay the rent. And by playing other people, I was learning who I was in the process,” Ryan added.
You can read his full remarks — which mentioned Barbie director Greta Gerwig and his former Crazy, Stupid, Love. costar Steve Carell, among others — here.