Burt Reynolds had a crush on Ryan Gosling’s mother

Ryan Gosling has shared that his mother was one of the late Burt Reynolds’ crushes.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 1 May,  the 43-year-old actor spoke candidly about working with the late Burt Reynolds on their 1996 film, Frankenstein and Me. After noting that he was still a teenager when working with Reynolds, he then recalled how his then-co-star was interested in his mother, Donna Gosling.

“I thought he took a shine to me. I thought he thought there was something special to me, and then I realised that I have a really beautiful mom,” he said about Reynolds. “The real shine was for my mom. I was like: ‘Oh, this is a secondary shine.’”

When Kimmel asked him how long it took him to realise that Reynolds had a thing for Donna, the Notebook star responded: “I wish I had found out sooner.”

He also noted that while his mother was with him on set at the time, she was flattered by Reynold’s crush on her. “Oh my god she loved it,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that a romance between his mother and Reynolds never happened. “Nothing happened, okay. He just liked [my mom].”

Kimmel then quipped about how Gosling’s name would be different if his mother married The Longest Yard star. “You could have been Ryan Reynolds if that worked out,” the TV host joked.

After he confirmed that he talked to Reynolds while working together, Gosling once again joked about the reason why.

“Well, you know why he was being friendly,” he quipped, referring to Reynolds’ crush on his mother. He added that Reynolds gave him gifts, including autographed shirts and some interesting advice.

“He’s like: ‘Let me tell you something, kid: Don’t spend your whole life stepping over diamonds to live with a Cubic zirconia,’” the Barbie star said, mimicking Reynolds. “I was like: ‘I’m 13. I don’t know what any of those things are. I don’t know what any of that is. Stop looking at my mom. I’m right here.’”

Gosling and his mother have continued to have a close relationship over the years, as he even took his family to the 2024 Osars in March. The actor walked down the red carpet alongside his mother, and sister, Mandi Gosling, and stepdad Valerio Attanasio. In 2017, Mandi was his date for the ceremony when he was nominated for Best Actor for La La Land.

For the ceremony in March, Gosling donned an elegant black Gucci suit composed of a blazer, pants, and an open-collared shirt that shimmered with touches of gold. Meanwhile, his mother wore a matching golden and black gown, with a deep v-neckline.

Although his and his partner Eva Mendes’ daughters – Esemeralda, nine and Amada, eight – didn’t make an appearance, the Hitch star showed up at the ceremony, choosing to forego the red carpet altogether. On Instagram at the time she shared a video of herself posing in Gosling’s dressing room, along with the caption: “Always by my man.”