Ryan Gosling found a special (and surprisingly public) way to celebrate Eva Mendes’ 52nd birthday on Thursday.
The longtime private couple — who rarely appear in public and haven’t walked a red carpet together in more than a decade — shared the stage during Gosling’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon In New York, where he was promoting his new film Hail Mary project.
The moment came at the end of Gosling’s live chat with Fallon when he asked the audience if they would sing for his other half, who was backstage at the time. One of Fallon’s staff went to fetch a surprised Mendes, who walked out while her movie star quipped, “Here’s the thing, you might find me in the Hudson River tomorrow.”
Mendes first paid tribute to the audience – filled with school teachers in honor of Gosling’s role as a middle school science teacher tasked with saving the world in… Hail Mary project – By saying how amazingly underpaid they are. “You’re going to cut it all, right,” she asked Fallon, who declined. The host then noted how the audience was already full of band directors from North Bergen High School in New Jersey, so they had no problem belting out “Happy Birthday” while holding a flag that said “Happy Birthday Eva!”
Turns out it was all part of Gosling’s master plan. At the top of his conversation with Fallon, the host revealed to Gosling that “that was your idea” about filling the audience with teachers. The actor was quick to respond with, “But you made it happen.” Gosling then told a story about a teacher who influenced him when he was a child, and how when she left at the end of the year, he stood at a desk and quoted a famous line from… Dead Poets Society (Originally written by Walt Whitman). So Fallon invited the movie star to jump on his chair and he stood at his desk and in unison they saluted the audience, saying, “Hey Captain! Oh Captain!”
Gosling’s late-night appearance comes before hosting Saturday Night Live For the fourth time this weekend. Gosling noted that he gets into “a lot of trouble” laughing during sketches and breaking character, which Fallon also did during his days as a cast member. “They always say, ‘You laugh too much,’” Gosling said. “You and Fallon.”
However, this peppy song wasn’t Mendes’ only moment in the spotlight. At the end of their conversation, Gosling and Fallon turned their attention to Amazon’s Alexa device by playing a clip of Gosling previously taking him asking the device about Hail Mary project. “Why people should see Hail Mary project “In the theater,” Gosling asks Alexa. “Because the IMAX pictures are so amazing,” she replies. Additionally, Eva Mendes has described itself as a masterpiece that brings back the magic of the big screen experience.
“Eva Mendes is amazing, isn’t she?” Gosling said. “Absolutely,” Alexa answers. “She has this amazing range that people don’t always give her credit for breaking through.” Training day For this beautiful performance the place beyond the pines And with Ryan Gosling, she brings that real vulnerability to every role. Plus, she was smart to step back from acting to focus on family, which shows she got her priorities right. “I couldn’t agree more,” Gosling says.
He also took some time to kiss Alexa for her sweet compliment to Mendes. Watch the moments and his full interview below.
