Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling make their first public appearance in a decade during a surprise act on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling have been quite private about their relationship. The couple usually never make a joint public appearance at any event or show. However, things changed on Thursday night at The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. Mendes and Gosling made their first official appearance together in public in more than a decade. The Barbie actor surprised his partner for her 52nd birthday. We don’t know who was more surprised, Eva Mendes or the excited audience in the studio, who cheered loudly as Mendes walked in on stage.

Ryan Gosling surprised Mendes on Jimmy Fallon’s show

Gosling had Mendes brought onstage during the filming of ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” so that the audience could sing “Happy Birthday,” to her. Not just that, Mendes was also wished by an elaborate high school marching band.

Gosling was on the show to promote his new film Project Hail Mary in which he plays a middle school teacher who wakes up on a spaceship and with no memory. In honor of the film’s theme, the actor had filled the audience with school teachers.

Mendes had ‘no idea’ this was going to happen, the host Jimmy Fallon said. Mendes looked nonplussed as she came on stage. She even gave an impromptu speech to the audience, leaning into the host’s mic.

“We owe so much to you guys,” she said, “and you’re so underpaid!” — prompting laughter from the audience.

Earlier, Gosling revealed that Mendes “loves teachers” and even displays her Hall Monitor sash in their home.

To complete the celebration, Fallon invited New Jersey’s North Bergen High School marching band, who carried a flag declaring “Happy Birthday, Eva!”

More about Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling

Mendes and Gosling reportedly met while filming the thriller “The Place Beyond the Pines” in 2011, and started dating soon after. The couple, despite their status as Hollywood A-Listers, have mostly kept their relationship and family life out of the public eye. The couple share two daughters.

At the 2024 Oscars, before his performance of the song “I’m Just Ken” from Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” Gosling walked the red carpet with his mom, stepdad and sister. Mendes stayed backstage.