Teammates in the kitchen.
Eva Mendes revealed she and long-term partner Ryan Gosling split responsibilities when it comes to tackling household chores, admitting she's total "kitchen freak."
"Ryan's the cook. He's an incredible cook," she told People in a profile published May 13. "I think that there's a really nice balance to 'you cook, I clean.' And it just works for us."
Confessing she's also a bit of "control freak about the sink," Eva, 48, said that she actually finds it therapeutic to tidy up the dishes.
"Life is so chaotic. But the one thing I can control is my house, my kitchen," she shared. "So when I do the dishes it's meditative for me. It really goes deeper than just cleaning up. It really gives me clarity. Clean sink equals clear mind for me."
The Hitch star explained that growing up in a tiny apartment with lots of people made her appreciate when everything was in order.
"When the house was clean, it was like, 'Hey, I just feel better,'" she shared. "Everybody felt better. So for me, it's really emotional."
Eva and Ryan—who began dating in 2011 shortly before they starred together in The Place Beyond the Pines—may have their kitchen routine nailed down, but things didn't go quite as smooth when it came to entertaining their daughters Esmeralda, 7, and Amada, 6, at home during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
"Our kids were at a difficult age not to be able to see other kids and interact with people, even though Eva and I did our best," Ryan, 41, told British GQ in January, joking that he and actress seemed to do "more acting in quarantine than in our films."
He added, "Tougher crowd, though."
Despite the challenges that parenting can bring, Eva is happy to direct her attention to her family these days.
"I never wanted babies before until I fell in love with Ryan," she shared in a radio interview on Sydney, Australia's Nova 96.9 in October 2020. "And then it just kind of worked out to where I was 40 and having my first baby and then I think I was 42 with my second one, so it worked out in that way that I had a career and then I changed my focus to my family."
That same month, she echo her sentiment of domestic bliss, sharing on Instagram she would "rather be home with by man than anywhere else in the world."