Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling just made their grand public debut with their two daughters, Esmeralda, nine, and Amada, eight, at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
The actress, 50, has spoken often about keeping her private life out of the spotlight, especially when it comes to her relationship with Ryan, 43, and their girls.
Fans were treated to the first sight of the couple's family and marveled over how much they'd grown up, and the star is now sharing her own thoughts on maintaining a semblance of privacy while being a public figure.
Eva took to Instagram on Tuesday with a selfie from her hotel looking out over the Parisian skyline, with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. "Morning in Paris. Sleep marks and all," she wrote.
She also added a comment on being snapped in public and why she felt more secure controlling her image on social media. "The minute I see photographers when I'm out, my guard and my wall goes up. So I wanted to share this."
Fans praised the mom-of-two for being so candid about her approach to parenting and for prioritizing her kids' upbringing away from the spotlight. Many others also gushed over how wonderful it was to see her daughters out and about.
As one fan wrote: "Unfortunately the Olympics is pretty high profile and they are on the look out for celebrities. Hope you get to a place soon that you can go and just be a regular old family hanging out together," Eva responded: "They were great about not [posting] the kids so I'm a grateful mama bear. Thx for a loving comment. Sending it right back!"
When one follower added that she should "expect it" as a public figure, Eva replied: "I'm not saying I don't expect it - I'm saying I put a guard up. Which I'm happy to do. I like that I don't parade out there. But I feel like I can let my guard down on my page. Hence my post."
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A third also gushed that they were glad to see the entire family at the Games, and the Hitch star sweetly confirmed that they indeed had a great time. "And I love [that] @nbcolympics didn't cut away to the kids! And most sites blurred their faces so mama bear is happy about that. Anyway it felt so good to be there and feel unified with people. Sending you lotsa love!"
Ryan and Eva are just as private when it comes to their own outings together as they are about their daughters, having only ever made public appearances as a couple when they promoted their 2012 film The Place Beyond the Pines.
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Last year, when the promotional cycle for Barbie began in earnest, many fans hoped to see Eva support her Ken at major premieres and award shows, especially once he started earning several Best Supporting Actor nods.
However, Eva shut down that idea in a response to a fan comment, saying: "We don't do those things together," maintaining that posting prior photos of theirs from the set of their 2012 movie remained more within her comfort zone.