Ryan Gosling turns 44! All the ways he and Eva Mendes have supported each other over the years

“The way my husband looks at me is just … sometimes I’m like, oh my God,” Eva Mendes said of Ryan Gosling in an October interview

Happy Birthday Ken – wait, no – Ryan Gosling!

Three times Academy Award nominee Gosling marks his 44th birthday on Tuesday, November 12, ending a year in which he sang “I’m Just Ken” at the 96th Academy Awards in March and costarred with Emily Blunt in The fall guy.

Gosling who shares daughters Esmeralda, 10, and Amada, 8with his longtime partner Eva Mendestends to stay out of the limelight when he’s not pulling impressive stunts or dance his way through films like Barbie and La La Land. Here’s some insight into how Gosling and Mendes, 50, support each other more than 12 years after the pair first starred together in 2012’s ThePlace Beyond the Pines.

First and foremost, Gosling maintains an exalted status as Mendes’ biggest cheerleader; when the actor spoke with Additional in May about Mendes, who was featured in PEOPLE’s 2024 Beautiful numberhe said, “It should basically just be her, but I understand they have to have other people in there.”

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In that interview, Gosling also noted that Mendes’ decision to step away from acting after 2014’s Lost River – which Gosling wrote and directed – helps the couple balance their work commitments with parental responsibilities. “She’s with the girls and when she’s working I stay home with the girls too,” he shared Additional then. “I couldn’t be here without her.”

In Mendes’ interview for PEOPLE’s Beautiful Issue in May, she gave a rare glimpse into the couple’s home life, saying that Gosling cooks and she cleans. “I’m not going to tell you, but in all the ways I need to be supported,” she said when asked how Gosling supports her. “He has me in every way.”

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Speaking to the British newspaper, Mendes complimented how Gosling boosts her sensuality and confidence The Times on 17 Oct. “I feel really f—— sexy at times” she said at the time. “The way my husband looks at me is just … sometimes I’m like, oh my God. It might not sit well with people, but so much of what I feel is a reflection of what he gives me.”

Related: Eva Mendes Embraces Aging — And A Bigger Phone Font Size: ‘Paranoid People Can Read My Texts To Ryan’ (Exclusive)

“There are so many things that can make me feel sexy, and I would say I feel more sexy than not,” she added in that interview. “I think because I’ve never considered myself beautiful, but I’ve always felt very sexy.”

In addition, both Gosling and Mendes have noted that she has been working as Gosling’s acting coach for his on-screen roles in recent months. “He gets something out of me that has never been available before,” Mendes shared The Times of acting with Gosling in the same October interview. She also hinted in that piece that she would most likely return to the screen to work with Drive star.

“It’s the one thing I would love to do,” she said.