Eva Mendes shares love-struck experience with Ryan Gosling: 'There's only one Ryan'

Eva Mendes recalls working with Ryan Gosling and being captivated by his charm.

In an appearance on the Today show on Tuesday, Mendes, 50, talked about how she first met Gosling, 43, while the two were filming their 2012 film The Place Beyond the Pines.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that," she said of working with her now-partner. "The way he works, his commitment to his craft, how he wants to make everything as best as it can be — and that means making his costars as best as they can be."

"Unfortunately — or fortunately — there's only one Ryan, so I pretty much stopped acting after that," she added.

Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes started dating after meeting on the set of the movie The Place Beyond the Pines. 

Since the release of the movie, Mendes has only acted in six roles, with her only film credit being for Gosling's directorial debut, Lost River, released in 2014.

The couple is very private about their relationship, but they have two daughters together. Their first daughter, Esmeralda Amada, was born in September 2014, and their second daughter, Amada Lee, was born in April 2016.

When asked about her decision to take a step back from acting, Mendes shared that it was not a difficult choice to make after over a decade in the industry.

"It was like a no-brainer. I'm so lucky, and I was like, if I could have this time with my children — and I still work, I just didn't act, because acting takes you on location," she said. "It takes you away."