The daughters of Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling might have access to one of Hollywood’s hottest couples, but they’re not getting time on social media or using a smartphone.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Mendes spoke about why daughters Esmeralda, 10, and Amada, 8, both of whom are home-schooled, are growing up a little differently than many children their age.
“Putting my kid on the internet and being like, ‘Oh, search something,’ that to me is equivalent to telling her, ‘Oh, just go down the street in the middle of the night. You’ll be fine,’” Mendes said.
“I know that sounds extreme, but that’s what I feel.”
Mendes says her approach to raising her children is based upon “conscious parenting,” which prioritizes the relationship between parent and child over following rules.
“I still have all this anxiety and I see myself passing it on to my children,” Mendes admitted. “Subconsciously I can’t imagine what they’re inheriting from me that I don’t want them to inherit from me.”
With that being said, Mendes makes it a point to not discuss body insecurities or aging around her children, insisting that her sisters follow that rule too.
“I’m not going to be able to control this narrative much longer. They’re getting to that age.”
Mendes and Gosling have also made a conscious effort to shield their daughters from the extremes of Hollywood, reportedly moving their family away from there so that their kids wouldn’t grow up among other children of celebrities.
“For them, the most important job is their girls. Everything else comes second,” a source claimed to People magazine in March. “And their girls are thriving. They left L.A. to live a bit further north, away from Hollywood. They didn’t want the girls to grow up around other celebrity kids.”
While Gosling is still a working actor, Mendes famously took a step back from acting 10 years ago to prioritize raising her children.
“I was never in love with acting. I don’t mean this in a self-deprecating way, but I wasn’t a great actress,” Mendes told The Sunday Times.
“I had my moments when I worked with really great people,” noting her best work has been with Gosling. “He gets something out of me that’s never been accessible before.”
In an interview last month with “Good Morning America,” Mendes shared similar sentiments, revealing that she might not ever return to acting.
“I don’t know. If there’s interesting roles… I kind of felt like I did it, you know? I was like, ‘I just worked with Ryan Gosling. He’s like, the best,’” she said, referencing their 2012 flick, “The Place Beyond the Pines.”
“It was such a high [in] my career to work with him and what we created together, that I was like, ‘This is a good time to like ’Seinfeld’ it, and just walk out.’ So, who knows?”