There are a few universal truths: Everyone cries during This Is Us. Everyone will stop what they are doing to watch a car chase on TV. And everyone loves Ryan Gosling.
The Canadian star, who turns 38 today, is the OG Internet boyfriend, thanks to his charming turns in movies like La La Land, Crazy, Stupid, Love, and, of course, The Notebook. But it's not only his on-screen charisma and talent that has had us non-stop swooning for years, it's everything: He visited a coffee shop in Toronto after the owner posted photos of his cardboard cut-out around the store. That time he couldn't stop laughing during an interview. There's that time he stopped a fight in the middle of an NYC street. How about when he and then-girlfriend Rachel McAdams reenacted their kiss from The Notebook on stage at the MTV Movie Awards?
Also, the "Hey, Girl" meme, which he reacted to in the most perfectly Gosling way ever.
"I never said it! Now, I understand if you're in a movie and you say, 'you complete me' or 'I'm just a girl standing in front of a guy,' and that follows you around and you've got to own that," he said. "But I never said it."
Alas, we still felt it. And isn't that all that matters?
But Gosling, who has two daughters, Esmeralda, 4, Amada, 2, with Eva Mendes, isn't just beloved by mere mortals. No, no, no. Even his fellow celebrities are as taken with the First Man star.
Stone admitted she just can't imagine her life without Ryan Gosling, her three-time co-star and good friend. Literally.
During a Q&A session at the Telluride Film Festival in September, Stone talked about how much her La La Land, Crazy, Stupid, Love, and Gangster Squad co-star has impacted her life and career. revealed how much Gosling means to her and his impact on her life and career, calling him a "dear, wonderful friend" and said, "I can't even imagine what my life would be without Ryan."
She continued, "He's so special. It makes me emotional."
While Styles' unabashed love for The Notebook is well-documented, his crush on Gosling was inadvertently revealed during a game he played on BBC Radio 1's The Breakfast Show With Nick Grimshaw, where he was hooked up to a heart rate monitor and showed photos of celebs. Guess whose heart raced when a shirtless pic of Gosling from The Notebook popped up?
"Looking very handsome," "The Sign of the Times" singer said. "It's a good scene. He's great."
Gosling was later asked about Styles' reaction, and jokingly told Extra, "I'm more concerned he might have a heart condition." So modest!
The "Back to You" singer has expressed her crush on The Notebook star many times over the years, even admitting to People at InStyle and Warner Bros.' 2016 Golden Globes after-party she was looking for Gosling at the event.
"I mean, is that even a question?" she answered when asked if she had a crush on him.
Back in 2013, she revealed her interest in the star, telling Z100, "He's super-cute. I've not met him yet. I've seen him on an airplane and I freaked out so…I don't even think he saw me!"
Watch out, Justin Bieber!
The model was asked who her celebrity crush is during LOVE magazine's #LOVEFM radio call-in show this past June, where she answered, "My celebrity crush has to be...Ryan Gosling!"
Her crush on Gosling isn't some fleeting thing though, as she tweeted back in 2013, "I want Ryan Gosling in anything. Any role. Anytime of the day."
Same, girl. Same.
Using the endless Ryan Reynolds vs. Ryan Gosling rivalry to her full advantage, Lively delivered the ultimate social media burn to her husband on his birthday.
Using a photo of Gosling with Reynolds cropped just out of frame, she wrote "Happy birthday, baby."
Iconic.
"He's just a dreamboat. It's undebatable. He's just stunning. Not only physically, but in terms of talent—a general sex appeal that he has," the Spider-Man heartthrob told Jay Leno about his "proper man crush."
Legend had nothing but admiration for his La La Land co-star, gushing about him while promoting the Oscar-nominated movie.
The EGOT winner admitted to being a little bit jealous of how quickly Gosling learned to play piano, telling Nova FM in a radio interview, "The fact that he learnt as well as he did is pretty impressive for someone who didn't normally...in fact, I was a little bit jealous...he works so hard. I haven't seen any of his flaws yet!"
"Ryan Gosling looks sexy as hell in this movie, too. He's all muscled out...I love Ryan," Cooper told GQ U.K. about his Place Beyond the Pines costar. "Honor to work with him. He's one of our greatest actors. Nice guy, too."
And following some backlash in 2014, Cooper conceded his People's Sexiest Man Alive (from 2011) title to Gosling, saying on BBC's Graham Norton Show that he saw paparazzi photos of his friend online that convinced him on the injustice of it all.
"He literally looks like he's in a photo shoot, like he just came off the runway. With, like, the peacoat...with the scarf," he said, "and there's ones of me, and I literally look like the neighbor that never comes out of his house and when he does it makes you go, like, maybe he should just stay in. So it's interesting!"
Did you know Timberlake and Gosling have known each other since 1993? Both were members The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, along with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
"He's always been that charismatic and that talented," Timberlake told Ellen back in 2011. "I think one of the best actors of our generation."
And guess what? They were roommates growing up, as Gosling lived with Timberlake and his mom while they filmed the show. The former Mousekeeters had a mini-reunion at the 2017 Oscars, too.
"Ugh - NEVER going to a Ryan Gosling movie in a theater again. Apparently masturbating in the back row is still considered 'inappropriate,'" Kendrick jokingly tweeted (we think joking...)
"This year I have a talent crush on Ryan Gosling. I think he's fantastic and...you know he'd be nice afterwards. He seems smart. If I was gay, I would go for a smart man," the Harry Potter actor told Attitude magazine.
"I'm a big fan. I like his subtleties and how he really internalizes a lot of the emotion. And for me, that's kind of my style. So, he's definitely a big person to look up to," the Hunger Games star revealed to Elle.
"Ryan Gosling didn't get an Academy nomination? There's some bulls--t right there," the Oscar-winning Gladiator actor ranted via tweet about Gosling getting snubbed for his work on Drive, only to later co-star with him in The Nice Guys five years later (resulting in an epic bromance).
Back in 2013, the domestic goddess revealed her crush on Gosling, even naming The Ides of March as her favorite movie of his after revealing she's watched every single one.
"I was into Ryan Gosling for quite a while," she admitted to Entertainment Weekly.
"I can't count how many times I've seen The Notebook," the Jessica Jones star told Canada's Fashion magazine. "I'm glad there's an appetite for a leading man who is unconventional...The world needs more Ryan Goslings."
Can we get that embroidered on a t-shirt?
"When it comes to Hollywood hunks I am attracted to Ryan Gosling," the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star and model told Life & Style magazine. back in 2013. "I love The Notebook Ryan and bad boy Ryan."
"My job in this film was to fall in love with Ryan Gosling—rough. He was amazing, such a nice guy. He's so sweet," Gosling's Drive costar and love interest revealed while promoting their film at Comic-Con.
"@EmWatson told me she'd be far more interested in playing Anastasia in 50 Shades of Grey if Ryan Gosling plays Christian. #mugglelove," Ryan Seacrest tweeted about rumors that Emma would join the S&M-filled movie before Dakota Johnson was cast. Ah, remember the 50 Shades of Grey casting rumors days? We were all so young then.
"Ryan Gosling! I love Ryan Gosling! I remember meeting him for the first time at the Governors Ball and I freaked out. And he stares into your soul. And he's really tall!" the younger Fanning sister gushed to W magazine back in the day...only to have him moderate a 2016 panel for her movie, Neon Demon.
"Do I look OK? I feel like I'm going on a date with Ryan Gosling and I'm kind of nervous. I hope he likes me," the comedian once joked with pal Anderson Cooper before the duo called the Ryan Gosling Hotline.
"I don't like that man. Mr. Tall and Handsome, but I'm told he'll grow out of it...I was an actor at the same age he is. I couldn't do any of things that he can. I had a mullet and was in some bad sitcom," Clooney backhand complimented his Ides of March costar.
"I loved the whole film and was engaged every moment of the way. But what I want to talk about is the first section, the Gosling section; I want to make love to this section," Franco reviewed after seeing Place Beyond the Pines.