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.