Eva Mendes Opens up on Why She Waited Until Her 40s to Have Children | ‘As a Woman, I Just Wasn’t Ready’

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling are known to be notoriously private about their personal lives. The two met on the set of The Place Beyond the Pines and have been together since 2011, though not married.

The couple, who share two children together, rarely talk about their relationship or their kids keeping it all out of the spotlight, per Glamour. But Mendes recently opened up proudly about why she chose to become a mother after 40 during an interview with Hoda Kotb on the TODAY show.

Though a lot of women begin their motherhood journey and embrace it either in their 20s or 30s, others wait to begin this chapter of their life—Eva Mendes is one of them.

“Something really crazy happened. I met Ryan Gosling, I fell in love with Ryan Gosling,” the celeb said. “Then I was like, Oh, right, I want to create life with you.”

She continued, “But really consciously, I did want to wait till I was a little bit older … As a woman, I just wasn’t ready. And it’s such a personal choice for a woman, obviously,” adding, “Thankfully I had really healthy pregnancies, and I was happy I waited.”

When asked what it was about meeting Gosling that made her finally decide to have kids, Mendes said simply, “That’s when it made sense.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Mendes also opened up about the joys of being a mother. “I feel like parenting is the most creative thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “I’m an actress, I’ve designed clothes, I’ve done a number of different things, but the most creative thing is to create life.”

She also spoke about her decision to step away from the spotlight and pursue motherhood full-time, Mendes explained, “I really took it back to when I was little. Even though we were very, very lower-middle-class, my mom was able to be there for me at home until I was about 8 or 9, and those memories for me, that just formed who I was, those years with her. And I just thought, I feel fortunate enough that I could’ve taken some time out from acting. I still worked, I just didn’t act.”

“Damn. I really want this time with them. Now I’m obsessed,” she said, of being a mom. 

When Kotb wondered if there is any part of acting that Mendes missed, she responded, “What have I missed? I don’t think I’ve missed anything.”

However, Mendes is not completely against coming back to the big screen as she said, “I think that’d be fun at some point." However, she pointed out that even if she does come back, she does not want to do anything violent or sexual in movies which leaves her with a really limited list to choose from, she acknowledged.

 
References:

https://www.glamour.com/story/ryan-gosling-and-eva-mendes-complete-relationship-timeline

https://www.today.com/parents/moms/eva-mendes-opens-up-about-becoming-a-mom-in-her-40s-rcna27665

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Sonia Recchia