Ryan Gosling is set to return from his four-year Hollywood hiatus in the eagerly anticipated Barbie Movie.
The popular actor, 42, took a long break from his career as he opted to spend more time at home with his two kids to fellow star Eva Mendes.
But he has openly admitted that children were not initially part of his plan until he met the Latina flame, 49.
Ryan and Eva are the proud parents of Esmeralda, 8, and Amada, 6. And Ryan was happy to take a step back from filming to be a more hands-on dad - something he didn't ever imagine prior to meeting Eva in 2012 on The Place Beyond the Pines.
Speaking to GQ, the former Disney star confessed: "I wasn’t thinking about kids before I met her, but after I met Eva, I realised that I just didn’t want to have kids without her."
He continued: "And there were moments on The Place Beyond the Pines where we were pretending to be a family, and I didn’t really want it to be pretend anymore. I realised that this would be a life I would be really lucky to have."
The couple's first child came as Ryan's career really started to take off. He landed huge roles on the award-winning musical epic La La Land as well as comedy crime drama The Nice Guys.
Adding further strings to his acting bow, Ryan then played astronaut Neil Armstrong in biopic First Man but decided to then put the brakes on his career to focus on his family.
He now admits the step back has had a big part to play in the change of his attitude, realising it is now "work" and now "therapy".
"It's a job," he said. "And I think in a way that allows me to be better at it because there’s less interference."
Fans are keen to see Ryan take on the role as Ken in the upcoming Barbie production. The star-studded cast, which features Margot Robbie as Barbie and also stars the likes of Will Ferrell, Michael Cera, Dua Lipa and Nicola Coughlan.
He has already been tipped by some to win a best actor award for the production and took the time to slam those who claim he is too old to play the lead character.
It is Ryan's second movie back since his self-imposed hiatus.
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