Ryan Gosling Discusses Juggling His Career With Fatherhood

Ryan Gosling has made it clear that he prioritises fatherhood over his career.

The 41-year-old actor, who shares two daughters - Amada Lee, six, and Esmeralda Amada, seven - with longtime partner Eva Mendes, said it was his children that helped influence his decision to star in recently released Netflix movie The Gray Man.

He told Heat magazine: 'I'm like a dad first, and part of the reason for doing the film [The Gray Man] was this opportunity for us to go to these interesting places and be there with my kids.

'You know it's funny, we went to France and we went everywhere - we went to the Louvre and all these things. And if I asked them now, "What was your favourite part about France?" They will say, "The fruit plate at the hotel."'

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The father-of-two also shared that he intends to introduce his daughters to his work with the highly-anticipated Barbie movie, which stars Margot Robbie and is due for release next year.

Gosling, who plays the iconic Ken doll, explained: 'Barbie was a way to do that.

'Not necessarily like I'm making it for them, but it's the first time I think they kind of are understanding [it].

'Although, they can't for the life of them understand why I want to play Ken because nobody plays with Ken.

'But that's why we must tell his story.'

In January, Gosling spoke to GQ about watching his kids grow up, saying: 'Time, in general, is something I think about a lot now. My kids are growing up so fast I need to keep an eye on the clock in a way I never used to.'

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Mendes, who has been with Gosling since 2011, discussed motherhood herself during an interview with Forbes in June.

Addressing her and Gosling sharing equal responsibilities as parents, the 48-year-old said: 'Hopefully it's showing my girls that there are no gender-specific roles that one must take on and that we are partners in this and that we're all partners in this, not just Ryan and I, but our children as well.

She added: 'It's a team effort every day, so if they see him and I switching off doing certain things that again aren't specific to stereotypical gender things, I think that just creates balance and harmony.'

Mendes previously referred to parenting as 'the most creative thing' she's done when speaking to Today.

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The Hitch star, who together with Gosling is fiercely private about personal matters, spoke about her decision to take a break from acting to prioritise being a mum to her daughters.

'I really took it back to when I was little,' she said.

'My mum was able to be there for me at home until I was about eight or nine and those memories for me, that just formed who I was, those years with her.'

She did, however, point out that being able to take a career hiatus for her kids is a privilege.

'And so I just felt lucky enough, I'm like, "Damn, I really want this time with them." And then now, you know, I'm obsessed,' she said.