Why Eva Mendes Didn't Walk Oscars Carpet with Ryan Gosling: 'Of Course She's Proud and Excited' (Exclusive)

Eva Mendes did not appear by longtime love Ryan Gosling's side at the 2024 Oscars, but as a source tells PEOPLE, he had her full support.

The pair, who first met on the set of their 2012 movie The Place Beyond the Pines, rarely appear together on red carpets or at other Hollywood events. Gosling, 43, a Best Supporting Actor nominee for Barbie, attended Sunday's 96th Academy Awards alongside his family, including sister Mandi and mom Donna.

“It truly seems they are surviving Hollywood as a couple, because of the way they‘ve handled being famous. They try their best to stay out of the spotlight," a source tells PEOPLE of Gosling and Mendes, 50.

"For them, the most important job is their girls. Everything else comes second," the source of the pair, who share daughters Esmeralda, 9, and Amada, 7. "Of course Eva is proud and excited for Ryan. She still sees it as a job though."

"It seems like a healthy way of living. They’re amazing as a couple and very happy together," the source adds. "There’s so much love.”

Another source close to Mendes adds that the actress is "not into" all that red carpets entail after years in the spotlight. "She's moved past that part of her life for now — the glam and the red carpet and the photographers," says the source. "It's just not important to her. She knows that it's part of Ryan's job but it's not part of hers at the moment. She's content doing her thing with her family."

Following Sunday's Oscars ceremony, where Gosling delivered a show-stopping performance of "I'm Just Ken," Mendes humorously wrote on Instagram that she needed Gosling to return home so they could get their children into bed for the night.

“You took Ken all the way to the Oscars, RG. Now come home, we need to put the kids to bed. 💋," she wrote in a caption to a post showing herself in a pink blazer and a black cowboy hat.

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And before the show got underway, Mendes showed her support for Gosling by posting a video clip on Instagram from outside of his dressing room, set to “I’m Just Ken.” “Always by my man,” she wrote in a caption.

Though Gosling did not walk away with a Best Supporting Actor trophy for his work as Ken in Barbie (Robert Downey Jr. won the award for Oppenheimer), his Oscars night included a memorable onstage appearance with The Fall Guy costar Emily Blunt to trade jokes about their Barbenheimer "rivalry", on top of his "I'm Just Ken" performance.

Barbie received eight total nominations at Sunday's 96th Oscars. The movie ultimately won one Academy Award in the Best Original Song category for Billie Eilish and Finneas' song "What Was I Made For?"