Ryan Gosling took a page out of The Notebook with these sweet words.

The Barbie star recalled the moment his partner Eva Mendes, who he met in 2011 while filming The Place Beyond the Pines, told him of her pregnancy with daughter Esmeralda, now 8.

"Eva said she was pregnant," he told GQ in an article published May 31. "I would never want to go back, you know? I'm glad I didn't have control over my destiny in that way, because it was so much better than I ever had dreamed for myself."

Ryan, 42, told the outlet he hadn't envisioned himself as a father until Eva, 49, told him she was expecting in that moment, but later clarified that's not exactly what he meant.

"I mean, it's true that I wasn't thinking about kids before I met her, but after I met Eva, I realized that I just didn't want to have kids without her," the actor said. "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 realized that this would be a life I would be really lucky to have."

When asked why he hadn't shared those thoughts initially, Ryan explained, "I didn't really want to get into it, but I realized that I was misrepresenting the reality of it."

As for his parenting dynamic, Ryan noted that he turns to Eva for direction whenever he's lost. "I just lean on Eva," he added. "She knows what's important, always. She just somehow knows. So if ever I'm in my head about it, I just ask her."

Since his days on The Place Beyond the Pines, Ryan also welcomed daughter Amada, 7, with Eva. And his girls continue to inspire him—after all, it was their Ken doll that prompted Ryan to take on the role in Barbie.

"I did see him, like, face down in the mud outside one day, next to a squished lemon," Ryan shared, "and it was like, This guy's story does need to be told, you know?"

Click here to see Ryan's transformation into Ken, along with the rest of the movie's cast.